


New Side

by yourstrulyhjt



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Draco Malfoy Redemption, Hermione Granger is a Good Friend, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Mentor Severus Snape, Ron Bashing, Slytherin Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:07:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 30,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28576482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourstrulyhjt/pseuds/yourstrulyhjt
Summary: After Harry is revealed to be a Parselmouth, he is sorted into a new house. Nearly everyone turns on him and he is left alone in the house of Snakes. Slytherin Harry AU
Comments: 82
Kudos: 233





	1. The Dueling Club

** Snippets taken from CoS are bolded and italicized ** 

* * *

**_“I wonder who’ll be teaching us?” said Hermione as they edged into the chattering crowd. “Someone told me Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was young - maybe it’ll be him.”_**

**_“As long as it’s not - “ Harry began, but he ended on a groan. Gilderoy Lockhart was walking onto the stage, resplendent in robes of deep plum and accompanied by none other than Snape, wearing his usual black._ **

“What a nightmare. **_Wouldn’t it be good if they finished each other off?_ ** ” Ron grumbles before Lockhart and Snape begin their dueling demonstration. The trio of Gryffindors watch as Snape throws an ‘ _Expelliarmus!’_ and Lockhart is blown off his feet into the wall. Lockhart spouts an excuse before rising to his feet unsteadily, with almost the entire female population of Hogwarts staring after him in concern. 

Harry and Ron exchange quick worried looks as Lockhart and Snape go around the room pairing students off into dueling partners. 

“Weasley with Finnegan. Granger with Bulstrode. And Potter... you’re with Malfoy.” Snape snaps, walking away with his robes billowing behind him. Time starts to blur as soon as Harry is confronted with Malfoy’s pointy smirk directed towards him. And suddenly, Malfoy is raising his wand at Harry and shouting _‘Serpensortia!’_

The throng of students begin to back away carefully, but Harry walks towards the snake and shouts, “ **_Leave him alone!” And miraculously - inexplicably - the snake slumped to the floor, docile… its eyes now on Harry. Harry felt the fear drain out of him. He knew the snake wouldn’t attack anyone now, though how he knew it, he couldn’t have explained._ **

Harry looked up to see all the students, and Justin Finch-Fletchley, who he had just bloody saved, looking at him with fear and horror. “ **_What do you think you’re playing at?” he shouted, and before Harry could say anything, Justin had turned and stormed out of the hall._ **Harry feels Ron pushing him towards the direction of the Gryffindor common room, sees Hermione walking in front of them, and he’s pushed down into an armchair before Hermione begins to question him.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were a Parselmouth?” 

“A what?” Harry scrunches his eyebrows in confusion. 

“You can speak to snakes, Harry,” Hermione explains gently, before glancing up at Ron’s face that is surprisingly devoid of emotion. 

“That’s not that big of a deal Mione, I’m sure you’d be able to learn how too,” Harry responds airily, still confused on why both of his best friends were looking at him like he had murdered Mrs. Norris. 

“No, she can’t! It’s a big deal because only dark wizards can bloody speak to snakes, Harry!” Ron blusters, finally speaking for the first time. Harry’s eyes widen and he looks to Hermione for confirmation of Ron’s words.

“Ron’s not wrong technically. Salazar Slytherin was known for being able to speak with snakes and that is why Slytherin’s mascot is a snake.” Hermione offers, starting to feel more concerned by Ron’s reactions, rather than the outlandish conspiracy that Harry was actually the heir of Slytherin. The portrait to the common room opens and a group of Gryffindor’s walk by the trio, shooting Harry an apprehensive look. 

“He ought to be resorted! No self-respecting Gryffindor would ever be a snake speaker, we all know snakes are plain evil!” a fifth-year says loudly, casting furtive glances towards Harry. 

“That is entirely untrue.” Professor McGonagall’s firm voice echoes through the open portrait as she sweeps inside the common room. “And you’d all do well to support your housemate who’s had an extremely shocking last hour,” she adds sternly, gazing out over the group of gathered Gryffindors. McGonagall’s words in Harry’s defense eased the animosity, but doubt was written over the faces of almost every single student in the common room. Harry turned to look at Hermione, who offered him a small smile, and then Ron, who averted his eyes down towards the floor. _Not a good sign,_ Harry thinks to himself dejectedly. 

“Mr. Potter, would you accompany me outside for a few moments? I’ll bring you to your Herbology class so that Professor Sprout does not mark you tardy.” McGonagall requests, watching the crowd as Harry gets up from the armchair to meet her at the entrance. She zones in on the bespectacled boy’s two companions who are engaged in a furious quiet argument and sighs before leading Harry to the Headmaster’s office. 

A few minutes of tense silence elapse and Harry finally breaks the silence. “Er… Professor, could I ask where you’re taking me?” 

“We’re going to the Headmaster’s office, Mr. P-”

“Am I going to be resorted?” Harry bursts out, his expression immediately darkening. 

“I can assure you that we will be discussing this issue at length. Don’t worry Mr. Potter.” McGonagall decides to let his interruption go, knowing that the young second year’s life would only get more difficult from this point. Harry falls silent again, his footsteps dragging audibly behind him. 

“Chocolate frogs,” McGonagall utters with a mild expression of disdain as she directs Harry up the winding staircase. 

“Ah hello, my boy. Have we ever had a conversation under pleasant circumstances?” Dumbledore settles down into his own chair, gesturing at both Harry and McGonagall to take a seat. Harry shifts in his chair uncomfortably, looking everywhere but Dumbledore’s inquisitive gaze and Snape’s piercing glare. 

“Professor Snape here just came to me with the most enlightening story. I’m sure you understand what I’m referring to.” Dumbledore begins, taking a look at the way that Harry’s face shuts down again. 

“Headmaster, I swear, I had no idea speaking to snakes was a special talent or something!” Harry explains, before going into detail about how the only other time he had an encounter with a snake was at a zoo the year prior. 

“I believe you, Harry.” Harry’s expression brightens momentarily before Dumbledore utters his next words. “However, given these circumstances, I believe it is best that we at least go through the motions of resorting you. That will ease the suspicions directed towards you. After all, it is likely that you’ll simply be resorted into Gryffindor.” Snape snorts loudly from the opposite side of the room to which McGonagall sends him a piercing glare. 

“Severus, your animosity towards Mr. Potter needs to end. I know you were very close with his mother, would she really want her son treated like that by her childhood best friend?” McGonagall chides. Harry sits up a little straighter before glancing at Snape with mild interest. _He did not know that piece of information._

“So Harry, would you prefer to be sorted in here right now or have everyone see your sorting in the Great Hall?” Dumbledore asks, his eyes twinkling. 

“I - no, I’d rather be sorted in here, thank you, Headmaster.” McGonagall stands up to retrieve the battered hat from the shelves and places it onto Harry’s head for a second time. 

* * *

_‘Ah, Mr. Potter again… Very few students are resorted… I would think that you’ll be a Gryffindor again.” said the small voice._

_‘Why didn’t you just shout Gryffindor then?’ Harry asks._

_‘Just like last year, I am giving you the choice. And again, Gryffindor is still not the best place for you. For the house of the brave, few are brave enough to defend you against these rumors swirling around the castle.’_

_‘Please put me in the house you think I will succeed in.’ Harry decides._

_‘I said this last year, this house will help you on the way to greatness -- SLYTHERIN!’_

* * *

Harry’s eyes nearly bulge out of his head as he shakily removes the hat from his head. In a somewhat sickening parallel to his first sorting, he is too overwhelmed to notice that the room is entirely silent. Harry looks down and sees that his Gryffindor tie is already gone, replaced by emerald and silver stripes. 

“Professors, this has to be a mistake,” Harry says nervously, hands grasping at his new tie as if he could control it to change back into scarlet and gold. He looks up urgently at all three of the adults in the room and sees that none of them were faring any better than he was. McGonagall shakes her reaction off first to reassure her now ex-Lion. 

“Mr. Potter, please do not worry, I’ll treat you no differently than I did before.” 

Dumbledore is next to speak but the disbelief lingers in his voice. “Mr. Potter, I am shocked by this new outcome as well, but I am sure the Sorting Hat did not make a mistake.” Harry notes Dumbledore’s shift to a more formal address, then turns to Snape. _His new Head of House. Bloody hell. What will Ron and Hermione say now?_ Harry’s lamenting thoughts are interrupted by McGonagall’s warning cough to cue Snape into speaking. 

“Potter, I assure you that no one else is more surprised than I by your new sorting. But now that you are in my house, you have my word that I will look after you to the best of my ability.” Snape is unable to hold Harry’s gaze for longer than three seconds, before turning away stoically. After a moment of shock, Harry dips his head in gratitude before beginning to twiddle with his thumbs again.

“Your belongings will be moved into the second year Slytherin dorms, so you can just follow Professor Snape straight to the common room,” Dumbledore adds, his eyes noticeably ceasing their twinkling. Snape stands up to move towards the door and Harry gets up to follow, but not before turning to address McGonagall. 

“Professor McGonagall, I really enjoyed my time in Gryffindor… I’m sorry for letting you down.” Harry says.

McGonagall’s tone softens as she looks at her ex-Lion, “Harry, don’t think that. You did not let me down. I will see you in Transfiguration as usual.” McGonagall bestows a rare smile upon Harry before bidding him and Snape farewell. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Harry meets his new housemates :)


	2. Loyalty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry gets his first taste of being in Slytherin, makes potential new friends, and has a confrontation with an ex-friend.

Harry allowed himself to get lost in thoughts, as he follows Snape towards the dungeons. Snape suddenly stops walking and gestures at Harry to step in front of him. 

“Wait, Sir, why are we at the Gryffindor common room?” Harry asks curiously while being secretly amazed since the last five minutes was easily the longest time Snape had gone without ridiculing him. 

“I thought to allow you to let your two friends know that you’ve been resorted. I will wait a little further down along this hall but should you not be back in fifteen minutes, I will get McGonagall to open this portrait,” Snape said, with a surprisingly gentle look towards the green-eyed boy. 

“I- Thank you, Professor,” Harry stumbles over his words, before walking through the Fat Lady’s portrait. Blimey, Snape really meant what he said in Dumbledore’s office, Harry thinks to himself as he makes a beeline towards where Ron and Hermione are still arguing. Both heads snap up to look at Harry and their eyes drop to see his new tie color. 

“What the bloody hell are you wearing?” Ron yells, drawing the attention of the other Gryffindors in the common room who all notice Harry’s emerald and silver tie. 

“You’re a Slytherin now?”

“Slimy snake, get out of here.”

Harry winced and nervously looked around to face the gathered group of accusatory and betrayed Gryffindors. “I was just resorted into Slytherin,” Harry admits, starting to flush with shame at the lack of supportive and friendly faces. 

“So did I just lose my seeker to Flint?” Oliver Wood growls. 

“Wood, you should be more worried that the Heir of Slytherin was living amongst us!” exclaims the same fifth-year who had shouted at Harry earlier. 

“Don’t be ridiculous. The heir of Slytherin wants to kill all muggleborns and Harry is my best friend!” Hermione returns, looking furiously at the crowd of people who had been nodding in agreement to the fifth year’s remarks.

“Hermione, I’ve been telling you this for the last hour. Parseltongue is real dark magic. We can not be friends with a dark wizard,” Ron says seriously, without sparing a glance at Harry. In disbelief, Harry looks over at his supposed best mate and a sad look crosses his face before he strides out of the Gryffindor common room for the final time. Hermione jumps to her feet and follows Harry out of the portrait.

“Does he really believe that?“ Harry bites out, tears threatening to fall down his face as soon as the portrait door closes behind the pair. 

“I spent the last hour trying to convince him that you’re the same exact person! With or without Parseltongue, you’re still the Harry that we befriended last year. But he’s dead set in believing that you are the heir of Slytherin,” Hermione said sympathetically, reaching over to pat Harry’s back reassuringly. A stretch of silence accompanies the pair as Harry tries valiantly to hold back his tears. 

“Well now that you’re in Slytherin, it might be hard for us to talk as much as we usually do but we can make it work! I won’t leave my first friend behind so easily.” 

Harry managed a weak grin and the duo fall into companionable silence. Both Harry and Hermione look up in time to see McGonagall bustling down the corridor. 

“Potter, I will be having a talk with the Gryffindors to ensure they refrain from antagonizing you throughout the rest of this year,” McGonagall promises, beckoning Hermione to follow her through the Fat Lady’s portrait. 

“I’ll see you in class Harry,” Hermione calls out, waving farewell. Harry waves back and stands in the hallway in solitude for a few moments, allowing himself time to collect his thoughts before returning to Snape. 

“Sorry for making you wait,” Harry said to Snape, who waves his hand in dismissal. 

“We are not on a tight schedule. Classes have been canceled for the remainder of the day,” Snape replies, beginning to walk towards the dungeons. 

“Potter, I realize that you might be a little apprehensive of how you’ll be treated, but you have my word that the majority of your new housemates will have a grudging respect for you, and some may even worship the ground you walk on.” Snape pauses to take Harry’s expression into account before continuing along the dark corridor. 

“Sir, this is all because I can speak to snakes?” Harry asks incredulously. 

“Correct. Furthermore, I believe you have an opportunity to do good with that amount of sway within Slytherin.” Snape looks at Harry again whose face is filled with confusion, apprehension, and for some reason, excitement. For what bloody reason is this dunderhead excited? Snape turns away to roll his eyes. You can take the boy out of Gryffindor, but you can’t take the Gryffindor out of him. Harry freezes up, looking further down the dark passageway. 

“Professor, is that…” Snape squinted and instantly recoiled. As the pair stand there in shock, Peeves comes flying through a door, who instantly takes in the sight of Justin and Nearly Headless Nick lying on the floor. 

“ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTAAAACK!” 

Students practically sprinted down into the corridor to see what the ruckus was about before Professor McGonagall arrived and ordered everyone back into their common rooms. Ernie the Hufflepuff arrives, panting, on the scene. “Caught in the act!” Ernie yelled, pointing his finger dramatically at Harry. The gathered Professors all gawk at Harry before Professor Snape suddenly straightened up and scowled viciously at the Hufflepuff second-year. 

“MacMillan, do not be even more of a dunderhead than you usually are. I was with Potter for the last hour. 30 points from Hufflepuff for sheer stupidity and inciting the spread of rumors. Go back to your common room and tell your housemates how you managed to lose 30 points for Hufflepuff. ” Snape growled, firmly pushing Harry in the direction of the dungeons. 

“Sir, thank you for saying something in my defense,” Harry said gratefully. Snape inclines his head, the only indication that he acknowledged Harry’s words. 

Snape points to the Slytherin common entrance, “The password to the common room is pure blood for now. This is… ironic, considering that you are a half-blood with Salazar Slytherin’s gift. When we walk in, I will call all of the Slytherins into the common room to ensure that every student is on the same page on how to treat you.” Snape warns, before they walk through the entrance. Harry is instantly greeted by the significantly colder atmosphere and takes his first look at his new common room. The Slytherin common room is a dungeon, with a view of the lake and is adorned with portraits, leather sofas, and tables. _All in all_ , Harry notes, _this common room has everything the Gryffindor common room has, except for the warmth_. 

Snape clears his throat and Harry quickly realizes that the room is now filled with Slytherin’s looking up at him and Snape. “Everyone, please welcome Potter into our house. I am sure by now you have all heard of his fascinating disposition to snakes.” Snape drawled, taking a long look over the gathered Snakes. “If you have anything to say to him, you will say it now. I will not tolerate a divided house inside and outside of these walls.”

“Potter, I apologize for my actions at the dueling club. Despite everything over the last year, I hope you will accept my offer of friendship at some time.” a voice comes from the right side of the room. Harry twists to face none other than Draco Malfoy. An apology from Malfoy? In a million years, Harry would never have guessed this scenario ever occurring. Snape turned to glance at Harry who had yet to respond to Draco’s offer. _A smart move from the younger Malfoy. As always, looking out for his own best interests_ , Snape thinks. 

“I accept your apology. Since we’ll be sharing a room, feel free to call me Harry.” Harry said, nodding at Malfoy. 

“Thank you, Harry. You can call me Draco.” Draco replied, after the pair exchange hesitant half-smiles. 

“Anyone else?” Snape questioned, secretly relieved that the end of the Potter-Malfoy feud had arrived. 

“Prove that you’re really a Parselmouth and maybe you’ll find a new spot on our team.” utters a new voice. Both Snape and Harry turn to look at the burly Marcus Flint. Harry’s eyes widened slightly before turning to Snape questioningly. 

“Flint, do you prefer for him to speak to the snakes on the walls or would you rather conjure a snake,” Snape said in a bored voice.

“Both.” Flint conjures three garden snakes that dive in towards Harry immediately. 

‘ _Stop them_.’ Harry straightened up and hissed back. To everyone, and Harry’s surprise, the snakes that adorned the trim on the walls immediately sprung to life and sped towards the three snakes approaching Harry. After delivering swift bites to the necks of the garden snakes, the snakes Harry summoned simply slithered back to Harry’s feet calmly. 

‘ _We haven’t been out of the walls in such a long time. No one has called for us in over 50 years!_ ” they complain to Harry. 

Harry looked at them in disbelief before sympathy overcame his shock. _'I can let you all out sometimes, now that I’m here. But for now, you have to go back_.'

 _'Thank you, young master!'_ they hiss in delight, slithering back towards the walls. Harry looked up at the room filled with silent Slytherin’s. He turns to see Professor Snape’s mildly impressed expression and catches Draco’s enthusiastic smile briefly before looking back at Marcus Flint, who seemed overjoyed for someone whose authority had been put into question.

“Potter! Practice in two days.” Flint said, throwing a pleased look at the Slytherin Quidditch team members as he sat back down on the leather couch. 

“I believe that was more than a sufficient demonstration to prove that Potter belongs in our house. So, if no one else has any issues, I assume we are all clear.” Snape said, his words easily interpreted by the gathered Slytherin’s. It was clear as day that Harry Potter would be accepted as one of them. “Return to your rooms. I will be speaking to Harry for another few minutes before sending him up to the second-year dorms.” Snape returned to Harry’s side and leveled him with an impressed look. 

“Potter, that was a very Slytherin way to handle that situation. You gained respect with a public display and now that you are playing Quidditch for Slytherin, you are set here.” Snape said, noting Harry’s exhausted expression. “You’ve had a long day, so you can go off to your room. Second door on the left.” 

“Thank you for supporting me all day, Professor,” Harry said again, nodding at Professor Snape before standing to walk up towards his new room. Harry takes a deep breath, before he extends his hand to open the door, and walks in. Harry notices the three second-year Slytherin boys are all sitting on Draco’s bed bent over in discussion, but as soon as they detect the noise of the door handle turning, their heads snapped up in unison to stare at Harry. 

“Hello everyone,” Harry said lamely, looking around for where his belongings had been placed. Blaise catches his gaze and gestured to the bed on the far right side.

“You are right there, by the window,” Harry nods in thanks, striding over to the bed in an attempt to look more formal in the eyes of the pureblood wizards staring him down. He sits down cross-legged and begins to unpack his stationery and textbooks onto his new desk. 

“Harry, so uh- I actually really like snakes. Do you think you could maybe summon one of them so I could play with it?” Draco’s voice called out, a note of excitement underlying his serious face. Harry looks at the group of gathered second-year boys who are all looking at him with something other than the usual indifference or dislike that they usually held towards him. 

“Yeah, I could do that for you tomorrow after classes?” Harry replied, with a brief smile before turning back to his unpacking.

“That’d be cool,” Draco trailed off, as silence overtook the large room. Harry could see out of the corner of his eyes, the Slytherins were trying their best to communicate with their eyes, and with carefully placed jabs at each other's ribs. 

Theodore Nott breaks the silence, “So Potter, do you want to just be roommates? Or could we all be friends?” 

Harry sighed, mulling over his answer to the question he knew he would eventually encounter. “Once we get to know each other, we can be friends of course. And as long as you don’t stab me in my back,” he eventually said, looking at them squarely. 

“That is fair. But, you know that Slytherins protect their own regardless,” Nott replied. Harry nodded in slow agreement. After all, he had seen that behavior first-hand, with how Professor Snape switched up almost immediately after Harry had been put into Slytherin.

“Unless you’re too tired right now, we could get started on getting to know each other,” Zabini suggested. 

“Sure, what do you want to know about me?” Harry asked, sitting up to properly face the boys who had now dispersed onto their own beds. 

“Will you still be friends with the mu- muggleborn and Weasley?” Draco asked. 

“I will stay friends with Hermione, so if you want to be my friend, you will respect that,” Harry states coldly, looking at the mildly disturbed expressions surrounding him. “And Ron already thinks I’m a bloody dark wizard, so I don’t think that we’ll stay friends.” 

“Well, you win some, you lose some,” Nott laughed, as Draco nervously smiled. Harry’s eyebrows furrowed and he looked at them in annoyance. 

“This idea of pureblood wizards and witches being better at magic is utter bollocks, I hope you all realize,” Harry spit out. “Hermione ranked above all of you last year, in every single class. And in case you all forgot already, I am a half-blood who can speak to snakes.”

“Sorry Potter. And uh, that is true,” Nott apologized quickly, his cheeks reddening. 

“Potter, you are right, but I hope you know that not all Slytherins will be as quick to change their beliefs, even with you here in our house. A lot of these people have grown up knowing nothing other than pureblood supremacy, so it will be hard for many of us to stomach seeing you hanging around a Muggleborn witch,” Blaise replied, without a hint of vehemence in his voice. 

Harry grimaced before mustering all of his Gryffindor bravery and Slytherin cunning for this comeback, “I understand. But at the least, I am expecting all of you to have my back with this. Convincing the rest of this house will have to be a long term type of attempt.” Draco’s eyes widened comedically, before settling into an uncertain expression of agreement. A brief silence passes, with the second-year Slytherins looking at each other. 

“I have never told anyone this before but I honestly do not believe Half Bloods or uh- Muggleborns are lesser in terms of magical strength. It’s just that they don’t know about our world and that makes it dangerous for us since we are continuously straying further from the old ways,” Draco admitted. Harry sensed an opportunity with Draco’s confession and immediately jumped in.

“Since we are all being open, I live with Muggles during the summer. My muggle relatives.” Harry clarified, waiting for the Slytherins to begin clamoring over that admission. Surprisingly, they stayed silent, waiting for him to continue. “They are the worst type of muggles and are the reason why I did not know much about the wizarding world, until I came to Hogwarts.” Draco nodded in response, clearly thinking back to the time he had met a clueless Harry in Diagon Alley last year. “The reason we are all at Hogwarts is to be educated. They, as well as I, are learning the ways of the Wizarding world. Proper etiquette can be learned through a book, I’m sure,” 

Draco zoned in on that eagerly, “Harry, my mother loves teaching etiquette!” The unspoken message reached Harry and he nodded in acknowledgment. 

“Right so as I was saying. We need education, not discrimination,” Harry concluded, exhaling quietly with the amount of energy it had taken him to express his thoughts quaintly to the group of well-off children. As he looked around, he noticed the other Slytherins were in a state of silent agreement, nodding, and thinking to themselves. 

“So, does anyone else have any profound confessions other than Harry and Draco?” Zabini jokes, injecting humor into the thoughtful silence. 

“I’ve always known Granger was way smarter than me,” Nott admitted in embarrassment, sneaking a glance at Harry. Harry snorted in response. 

“Well, she is the smartest in our year. Uh - if she agrees, maybe she could join a few of our study sessions?” Draco added hesitantly. Harry looked over at Draco in disbelief and nodded, with a small smile. After all, he made huge progress in less than an hour. _Who could have imagined Draco Malfoy sitting at a table studying with Hermione Granger in the library. Maybe Snape was right,_ Harry speculated _, it could be helpful to make use of the power he seemingly wielded in Slytherin._

“Why don’t we all head down to the Great Hall for dinner. After all, tomorrow will be your first day with entirely different classes Harry,” Draco suggests, heading for the door with Zabini and Nott in tow. Harry clambered out of bed, noticing that Draco motioned for him to walk slightly ahead of them. _Being labeled a leader just for being able to speak to snakes? Slytherin is an absolute bonkers house_ , Harry mused to himself. The four Slytherins made easy and light conversation as they walk towards the Great Hall. 

“Your first meal as a Slytherin, Potter! How’s it feel,” Blaise asked, sliding into the seat with Theo on his side. 

“Well, nothing has even happened. But so far, it’s alright,” Harry replied, sitting on Draco’s left. The four Slytherins had barely eaten a drop of the hot soup in front of them before a rowdy group enters the Great Hall, and Harry and Draco turn to see a red-faced Ron Weasley storming towards them. Harry noticed Hermione trailing behind him, distress written all over her face. 

“What the hell, Harry? You’re already best mates with Malfoy and the rest of these slimy gits?” Ron seethed. At this point, most of the people gathered in the Hall had turned to look at what happened. 

“Ron, don’t make a scene. They are my housemates. And unless I’m mistaken, you were the one who refused to even look at me as soon as I said I was resorted into Slytherin. Some type of best mate you are,” Harry said bitterly. 

“Yeah? And I am not sorry for it, Potter. You’ll end up a dark wizard for sure now, what’ll your dead parents think?” Ron plundered forth. Hermione gasped from behind Ron’s shoulder and looked over at Harry with apologies in her eyes. Harry clenched his fists angrily, feeling Draco’s foot hit his lower leg gently to knock him out of his rage. 

“Ron, stop it!” Hermione exclaimed hotly, attempting to guide Ron back towards the Gryffindor table. Ron shoves her off and stands firmly, glaring back and forth between Draco and Harry.

Draco interjects quickly, “Watch yourself, Weasel! He has every Slytherin’s loyalty now, something he didn’t have in Gryffindor. Keep your mouth shut and stay away from Harry,” 

“So he’s Harry to you now? All of you are just filthy snakes,” Ron snorted, not noticing the looming figures of both Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall further behind him. 

“Ron, Harry’s been our friend through so much! How could you betray him over something like this?” Hermione begins to shout, angry tears unshed in her eyes. 

“I would not expect you to understand this, you’re a muggle born after all,” Ron replied condescendingly.

“Weasley, 30 points from Gryffindor,” Snape stalks up to the tense group. 

McGonagall made her way to the fuming redhead and immediately reprimanded him, “Mr. Weasley, I have never been more disappointed in your behavior. I will be in contact with your mother, again! I’ll also be docking another 30 points from Gryffindor. Now get back to the Gryffindor table. Without another word, or that’ll be detention for you!” Ron scowled at the Slytherin second-years and walked away angrily. Professor Snape looked briefly at his Slytherins, who were all looking at Harry with thinly veiled concern. _Potter managed to get the entire house under his thumb within hours. Just imagine the changes he could make!_ Snape contemplated to himself, returning back to the Head Table with McGonagall huffing in annoyance behind him. 

Hermione runs to hug Harry and looks him over critically. “You’re okay, right?” she whispered quietly. 

“Yes Mione, I think getting that over with was for the best. I don’t need friends who believe in baseless rumors about me,” Harry sighed. 

“Granger, are you still going to stick around for that prick?” Draco asked, scowling at the red-haired boy who was continuously glaring at the Slytherin table. 

“Well, I am still in his house, but I will certainly never help him with assignments or studying ever again,” Hermione raged. 

“Uh, so maybe you’d be interested in coming to our library sessions a few times?” Draco questioned. From behind them, Nott and Zabini try their hardest to mute their amused snorts. Harry nods in reassurance, seeing Hermione’s cautious and questioning look directed towards him. 

“Oh yes, I’d love that! Just let me know whenever you guys meet in the library! I’ll see you in the classes we share,” Hermione exclaims, waving to the Slytherins in farewell. 

“Thanks for trying Draco, I appreciate that,” Harry turned gratefully to his ex-rival. 

“Ah, it’s no problem. I figure that this will be good for your friendship, and maybe even better for our grades,” Draco joked, piling his plate up with dessert. Nott and Zabini nod along in agreement and Harry finally cracks one of his first genuine smiles since being sorted into Slytherin. 

“By the way, you can all call me by my first name,” he adds, before diving for a Treacle Tart. 

“Likewise,” both Theo and Blaise say with matching grins. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 2! As always, leave kudos/a comment if you like where this story is heading. I'm thinking about posting new chapters every 3-4 days! 
> 
> Next chapter: Harry's first full day as a Slytherin.


	3. Christmas Festivities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas time at Hogwarts brings more tension and even more discoveries for Harry.

With all of the attacks, almost the entire school had signed up to go back home for Christmas. When Harry asked Draco about his holiday plans, he had explained that his parents were going on a vacation without him. So thankfully, the school would only be occupied by the Weasley’s, Hermione, Neville, Draco, and his two minions, Harry, and the professors. After all, Harry was getting tired of the constant suspicious glares, and various students skirting around him in the hallways. To add to his annoyance, everyone in Gryffindor, except for the Weasley twins and Hermione, seemed to believe that he was the Heir of Slytherin. Fred and George had taken to parading with Harry and shouting, “Here comes the Slytherin Heir!”. But most of the time, Harry was accompanied in the corridors by his fellow Slytherin year mates, whose mannerisms had slowly begun to rub off on him. Harry noticed that his posture had corrected, and he walked with more confidence. His performance in classes had drastically improved, and without Snape constantly docking points, he had actually begun to flourish in Potions. Harry had been surprised that Snape looked after him on his first day as a Slytherin, but it was clear now that Snape saw him as a true Slytherin. He even had offered to help Harry catch up in Potions because he genuinely was lacking in knowledge compared to his Slytherin year mates. While technically considered unfair treatment, Harry now saw how professors would be biased against Slytherins. He could understand the reasons for Snape’s favoritism now.

Harry’s academic improvement had been excitedly received by all of his professors, even though he now wore emerald and silver. But no one was more excited than Hermione, who was glad her friend had become motivated to excel. 

“It’s great that you don’t sit around all day and play Exploding Snaps anymore!” she had exclaimed several times throughout the study sessions she had been invited to. Draco, Blaise, and Theo would frequently snort derisively at Harry’s embarrassment. 

On the morning of Christmas, Harry was awakened by an eager Draco Malfoy moving excitedly around the center of their room. 

“What are you still sleeping for? It’s Christmas!” Draco exclaimed, tossing a few gifts onto Harry’s bed. 

“Draco, it’s 8 in the morning! Why didn’t you wake Crabbe and Goyle too,” Harry said, tiredly wiping at his eyes. 

“I wanted intelligent conversation,” Draco replied haughtily, organizing his pile of gifts in front of him. 

“You won’t get it, I’m exhausted,” Harry proclaimed, settling back into his bed. 

“Get up or else I’ll force-feed you this candy Blaise got me from Zonko’s!” Draco threatens, brandishing a suspicious-looking licorice candy in front of Harry’s face. 

“Fine! I’m bloody awake,” Harry scowls, moving over to where Draco had organized his gifts. Draco hums committedly, taking out the gift that Harry had gotten him. 

“You did not get me a book on how to become a chaser,” Draco remarked, in mild amusement. Harry turned to catch the look on his face and burst out laughing. 

“I am Slytherin’s seeker,” Harry deadpanned, before going on more seriously. “You are decent on a broom though, it’d be a shame for us to lose your talent next season.” Draco nods self-importantly and places the book more carefully onto his drawer. 

“You know, you really fit in Slytherin,” Draco remarked, thrusting his gift under Harry’s nose. 

“You got me a letter from your mum?” Harry said incredulously. Draco rolls his eyes and motioned for Harry to read the letter. 

_**Dear Mr. Potter,** _   
_**My darling son has written to inform me that you were sorted into Slytherin house after the occurrence of shocking events. I am pleased that you have also decided to forgive Draco for the previous year, and have become friends. If it suits you and your current living accommodations, Lucius and I would love to host you at Malfoy Manor this summer break.** _

_**Lucius did some digging on why you were left at the home of Muggles, rather than that of your parents’ friends. Your parents had a will before they passed away, which was sealed away by none other than Albus Dumbledore. As he is your magical guardian, he is the individual responsible for placing you with your Muggle relatives. He is also supposed to have educated you about the workings of the wizarding world, as you are the Heir to the House of Potter, and other small Houses, I am sure. Because of all of this, I ask that you remain cautious while in his presence. I imagine that by the summertime, my husband and I will have gathered sufficient evidence. If we are lucky, you could find yourself with new magical guardians.** _

_**Severus Snape is a wonderful Head of House and an even better resource. Do not shy away from going to him for any questions. Take my lovely son along with you if you ever do go, Draco is his godchild.** _

_**Sincerely,** _   
_**Mrs. Narcissa Black Malfoy** _

  
After a few minutes of reading and rereading the letter, Harry comes back up nearly dizzy with shock. 

“Well, what’d she say? I’m sure it was just an invitation to Malfoy Manor over the summer,” Draco drawled, sounding remarkably similar to the first-year Draco Malfoy that Harry had met in Diagon Alley. 

“Well yes, that was in this letter but…” Harry’s voice is quieting in his disbelief. Draco’s eyebrows furrow and he takes the letter into his hands. Harry is still sitting there, soaking in his amazement, when Draco looks back up. 

“Wow Harry, this is really surprising,” Draco says quietly, pushing the letter back onto Harry’s lap. 

“Maybe after lunch, we could go to Snape and ask some questions,” Harry reckoned, twirling his wand in his fingers. Draco nodded in response, afraid to break the silence. After some time of contemplation, Draco retrieves a long wrapped gift and hands it to Harry. 

“That letter from my mother wasn’t your gift. I got you this, and actually paid for it with my own money,” Draco said, a bragging and proud tone already entering his voice. Harry smiled and begun to unwrap Draco’s gift, already being able to tell that it’s a broom. “It’s for when you take my spot on the team,” Draco pouted, but his excited smile had easily overwhelmed any trace of jealousy. The polished handles of the Nimbus Two Thousand And One positively shimmered. This was one beautiful broom, one that was able to take Harry’s mind off of the letter he had just received. 

“Thanks, mate, I love it,” Harry replied, quietly admiring the perfection of his new broom. Draco noticeably preened but smiled back graciously.

“We can go for a spin to take your mind off whatever Snape tells us,” Draco suggested, vanishing the wrapping paper of all the gifts he had received. Harry nods, carefully setting his new broom onto his bed, before turning to the rest of his gifts. The Dursley’s had sent him a toothpick, accompanying a note asking whether he could stay at his school for the summer. Draco had grimaced and sent Harry a pitying look before adding, “hopefully you can stay with me the entire summer.” Hagrid had sent an entire tin of treacle toffee, Hermione bought him a luxury eagle feather quill, and Mrs. Weasley had sent him a green sweater. Harry nearly choked up by the letter that came with Mrs. Weasley’s gift, who had reassured him that he was always welcome in her family. Draco struggled to put a genuine smile on his face before noticing that the Weasley matriarch’s gift had nearly brought his friend to tears. “That was nice of her,” Draco manages. Harry hums before folding the sweater gently and placing it inside his drawer. 

“Wanna grab some food? We can meet up with Hermione in the Great Hall,” Harry said, standing up to get ready. 

“If you insist,” Draco heaved a great sigh, before standing up as well. Both Harry and Draco exit the dungeons, with Draco animatedly arguing that Harry needed to learn how to comb his hair. Before entering the Great Hall, a lull enters their conversation, and Harry takes this time to muse upon all the changes that have occurred since he was sorted into Slytherin. _‘This Draco Malfoy is clearly capable of change and was easily a better friend than Ron this year. The other Slytherin boys seemed to tolerate Hermione at their library sessions, and Theo and Draco seemed to appreciate the intellectual conversation that she readily supplied. Wait a minute. Hermione had that plan to brew Polyjuice Potion so that we could sneak into the Slytherin common room.’_ Harry’s mind is whirling with worry, and as soon as they walk through the door, he scans the tables to find Hermione. He easily finds her, sitting in the middle of the Gryffindor table with the Weasley twins and Neville. 

“Hermione, come here!” Harry exclaimed, beckoning her over worriedly while urging Draco to sit down at the Slytherin table. She turns her head to see Harry waving his hands frantically and walks briskly over to where Harry is standing.

“What is the matter?” Hermione asked, her eyes scanning over Harry for any sign of distress or injury. 

“What happened with your Polyjuice plan?” Harry said urgently. 

“I dumped the potion away. Not only are you in Slytherin, but you’re also Malfoy’s friend. I don’t think that you’d need to sneak into your own common room,” Hermione replied casually, the tension leaving her body.

“Oh,” Harry lamely said. 

“Yes well, that was really dramatic Harry. If that’s all, come wish everyone a Happy Christmas,” Hermione said, already pulling Harry along. Harry shot Draco an apologetic look, before following Hermione back to his old house table. Thankfully, Ron was absent from the table. Hermione seemingly picked up on Harry’s thoughts, “he’s definitely asleep,” she said, before sitting back down. 

“Harry! Did The Heir of Slytherin not receive a Weasley family sweater this year?” Fred and George questioned, appearing by Harry’s shoulders in sync. 

Harry laughed and shook his head, “no, I got one and I reckon it’s probably green for me being in Slytherin now. I’m really glad most of your family still supports me.” 

“The idea that Slytherins are all evil is so stupid and we all know that except for one of us,” Fred piped up. 

“That one of us is currently making his way towards us,” George added, looking over at the youngest Weasley brother in disappointment. 

Ron’s voice comes loudly over the din over the professors talking and eating at the Head Table. “What’re you doing here, Potter. I bet you didn’t get any sweater from my mum,” Ron said spitefully. Harry turns his head slightly to see most of the professors quietly observing the commotion. McGonagall had been on her way to the Gryffindor table but had been forced to sit down by Dumbledore. Dumbledore. Harry’s eyes flash, suddenly reminded of Narcissa Malfoy’s letter from earlier this morning.

“Ron, go sit with Percy. No one other than you is upset that Harry is in Slytherin. And mum made him a sweater too,” Fred said briskly. 

“Aren’t you two at least a little mad? The team doesn’t have a seeker and I heard he’s actually going to play for Slytherin next season,” Ron retorted, his face beginning to flush. 

“It’s not a big deal. If you were really his friend, you wouldn’t care,” George added, encouraging Harry to sit down. Ron swings his head around viciously at the small group of Gryffindors seated and immediately zones in on Neville, who is quietly eating his toast. 

“You’re a traitor too, aren’t you?” Ron provoked Neville. Harry watches as Neville swallowed his bite of toast and looked up at Ron calmly. 

“Don’t be ridiculous Ron. Harry has not changed at all. You’re the one who’s acting like he’s the second coming of Voldemort,” Neville replied, chewing off another piece of toast without giving Ron the time to respond. 

Harry gazed at Neville with newfound appreciation. In their first year, he and Neville had simply been roommates, never really interacting that much because it had always been Harry and Ron together. But here Neville was, standing up to Ron for Harry. Neville was far braver than anyone gave him credit for. 

“You are all the ridiculous ones. How many times do I have to say that speaking to snakes is only something dark wizards do!” Ron exclaimed angrily. There’s a little scuffle up at the Head Table and Harry looks up again to see McGonagall furiously escape Dumbledore’s right side to walk up to the Gryffindor table. Snape, who was seated on McGonagall’s right, was smirking unabashedly at the sight. 

“Weasley! It is a shame that I have to dock 20 points from Gryffindor on Christmas Day! Cease your baseless hatred against Slytherin or else I will ensure that you are put with a Slytherin partner in my class until you graduate,” McGonagall scolded angrily. Ron glares furiously at Harry before walking down to sit with Percy. McGonagall turns to look at Harry apologetically. “I am sorry Potter, you are welcome to sit anywhere you wish. Especially because there is barely anyone here.” 

“It’s alright Professor, I should be getting back to Draco. He’s been sitting there all lonely for a while,” Harry joked, turning and waving farewell to the small group of Gryffindors. 

“Finally! While Weasel insulted you and Dumbeldore watched you and him obsessively, I had no choice but to sit here and eat without you!” Draco whined, sitting with an empty plate in front of him. 

“You’re so dramatic Draco. I’ll just eat fast, we can go see Snape right after,” Harry said, scarfing down a plateful of bacon and eggs. Harry grabbed a glass of orange juice to wash everything down before standing up. “Alright, give me like 30 seconds to digest everything and we can head down.” 

“Shut up, you’ll need more than 30 seconds to digest what you just inhaled! Snape is gonna tell you something so shocking that your breakfast is going to come right back up,” Draco cracked a grin, before laughing loudly. Harry laughed back and sat down in agreement. The Gryffindors turned around in shock, not believing that the aloof Draco Malfoy was capable of laughter. McGonagall’s eyes were twinkling while looking down at Harry and Draco, reminiscent of Dumbeldore’s previously frequent meddlesome expression. 

But the Headmaster himself was assuredly not pleased with this development. Dumbledore was aghast when Harry was resorted into Slytherin but thought that perhaps the Malfoy-Potter feud would reignite even stronger than before, with Draco rushing to keep his Slytherin Prince title to himself. But instead, the absolute opposite had occurred. Draco clearly conceded to Harry, and they had so quickly become the pair of best friends that Ron and Harry previously were. And to make it all worse, Ron and Harry were no longer friends. Harry was practically thriving in his new position, and Dumbledore’s biggest fear could become a reality any second. The second that Harry discovered Dumbeldore’s involvement in his life would be the moment that he lost all control of the Boy Who Lived. _Little did he know, the process had already begun._

In fact, Harry and Draco were already on their way to Snape’s office. The two were in a heated debate over   
who the worst DADA professor was, but it slowly died down as they approached Snape’s office. 

“Should we just wait here for him?” Draco asked as they arrived at the door.

“He looked like he was almost done eating when we got up to leave. Hopefully, he’ll be down soon,” Harry replied, leaning against the dungeon wall casually. Without Snape showing up, the two Slytherins agreed to restart their previous argument, with Harry vehemently backing Quirrel and Draco claiming that title belonged to Lockhart. 

“He was possessed by Voldemort and tried to kill me!” Harry argued. 

“Yes well, Lockhart’s greasy smile tried to kill me!” Draco huffed. Snape watched in amusement as the two bickered before he strode up to them.

“Is there any reason in particular that you two are infringing on my holiday time,” Snape drawled, beckoning them inside his office, and locking the door.

“I just wanted to wish my godfather a happy Yule!” Draco exclaimed, donning his finest simpering expression. Snape rolled his eyes and turned to Harry. 

“Potter, is there something I can help you with?” 

“Well sir, I got a letter from Draco’s mother and she told me to come to you to understand why Dumbledore is my magical guardian,” Harry replied. Snape sighed and motioned at the pair to take a seat in front of his desk. 

“I don’t know the entire story, but I do know for a fact your parents expressly said that your Muggle relatives would never be an option to be your caretakers. But for some reason, the Headmaster assigned himself as your magical guardian and locked your parents’ will away. Personally, it is my belief that he is attempting to mold you into the ideal Boy Who Lived, a heroic, brash Gryffindor that charges into danger without a second thought. He probably thought you viewed him as your saving grace from the abysmal way those Muggles treated you. But unfortunately for him, you are now a Slytherin and I am inclined to believe that you are learning more about what it means to be in our house,” Snape said. Both Draco and Harry wore matching looks of disbelief.

“Sir, Harry is treated horribly with those Muggles!” Draco exclaimed furiously. Snape quirked an eyebrow at Harry, encouraging him to elaborate. 

“I’m not exactly abused, I mostly just have to do chores before I’m allowed to eat,” Harry explained while sending Draco a betrayed look. 

Harry’s look is ignored by the blonde wizard who continues voicing his concerns. “He’s so thin too,” Draco said worriedly, and after a minute of hesitation added, “and they only sent him a toothpick for Christmas!” Snape’s lips flatten and he casts a look over Harry, who is sitting impossibly straight in his seat. Harry’s expression is tumultuous, a myriad of expressions brewing over his face before it finally settles on anger. Snape did not imagine Harry was upset over his friend caring for him, it was more likely he had zeroed in on Dumbledore’s part in his childhood.

“Potter, I will do my best to find the truth out for you. Hopefully, in doing so, we will be able to extract you from the Muggles,” Snape pauses, noting Harry’s stoic expression. “I’m sure you recall McGonagall saying this, but I was your mother’s childhood best friend and I was well acquainted with Petunia.” At this admission, Harry was looking up at Snape with interest. “She was jealous that Lily had magic and she didn’t, so she grew up despising both Lily and magic. I cannot imagine what possessed Dumbledore to place Lily’s son with a magic hating and spiteful aunt,” Snape’s expression is so critical and displeased, that it almost reminds Harry of how Snape would look at his potions when he was in Gryffindor. Harry quickly reminded himself that this was no longer his antagonistic Potions Professor, but his Head of House that truly wanted to assist him.

“Thanks, Professor, I appreciate your help,” Harry said, bowing his head gratefully. 

“Of course. I will be in correspondence with Narcissa and Lucius so that we can get to the bottom of this. You will not be manipulated any further while you are under my house,” Snape said firmly. Draco seemed eager to head back and discuss their conversation at length with Harry but Snape spoke again before Draco had the chance to open his mouth. “Potter, I would like for you to accompany me to the Hospital Wing for a physical checkup someday this week though. This is standard for other Slytherins and with what I’ve heard today, I would rather be certain that you are healthy. If need be, Madam Pomfrey would supply you with nourishment potions,” Snape added. 

Harry nodded reluctantly. “I can go tomorrow after breakfast, if that’s okay with you, sir?” 

“That is agreeable. Now, the two of you ought to enjoy your day. Leave the information gathering to me and Draco’s parents,” with that, Snape pushes them out of his office. 

Their walk back to the Slytherin common room is a little more subdued but at this point, Harry was already drained from the events of the morning. 

“Let me take a quick nap,” Harry requested as soon as they stepped into their dormitory.

“Sure thing, I think I’ll take a spin on my broom. Let me know when you want to write my mother back,” Draco called, already walking towards the bathroom to get ready. Harry nods and falls into his bed, and into a fitful sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be starting up the new semester soon, but I am aiming to abide by a one chapter/week schedule. As always, kudos & comments are much appreciated! Hope you enjoyed :)


	4. Christmas Conclusions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The other half of Christmas Day has even more revelations for Harry, Draco, and Hermione.

By the time Harry wakes up from his nap, it is already the middle of the afternoon. He shakes his sleep muddled head with a groan and turns to see a blurry outline of Draco reading a book on his bed. 

“Nice to see you already making use of my gift,” Harry said, flashing a small grin at Draco’s focused reading.

“And it’s nice to see you awake after sleeping the entire Christmas day,” Draco retorted, shutting his new book and turning to roll his eyes at Harry. 

“Yes well, I’ve had a shocking morning! Are you ready to help me with this letter to your mum?” Harry asked, whipping out parchment along with the new quill Hermione had gotten him. Draco sighed dramatically before dragging his chair over to Harry’s desk. 

“I won’t write it for you, but I can look it over after to make sure that you sound at least a little proper,” Draco said, leafing back to the page he had left off at. Harry let out his own forlorn sigh and resigned himself to at least an hour of drafting out this letter. The sound of a quill scratching on parchment filled the air, along with Draco’s occasional hums. Harry was overcome with how disturbingly _normal_ this was. Here he was sitting alongside his supposed sworn mortal enemy, and writing a letter to said enemy’s mother. A lot had changed in a matter of weeks, and Harry was actually glad to have been put into a house that trusted and believed in him after just a single demonstration. Thinking back on it, Harry had done so much for Gryffindor in the previous year, and yet nearly the entire house turned their back on him. _The Sorting Hat was right,_ he was doing much better in Slytherin. 

“It’s been an entire hour. Do you want me to read what you wrote so far?” Draco asked, craning over Harry’s shoulder to scan his brief, but completed letter. After a few moments, he offers his thoughts, “Well, it’s actually not bad, but let me just change a few of your words.” Draco snatches Harry’s work to make the few revisions and at last, he leans back with a satisfied nod. 

* * *

**_Dear Mrs. Malfoy,_ **

**_I would love to visit Malfoy Manor during the summer holidays, thank you for extending this kindness to me._ **

**_Draco and I went to visit Professor Snape earlier today, and he elaborated further on what you mentioned in your letter. I greatly appreciate you and Mr. Malfoy looking into this for me. Also, I will surely keep in mind your warnings to heed the headmaster. I look forward to this summer with your family._ **

**_Sincerely,_ **

**_Harry James Potter_ **

* * *

“You know, that is _exactly_ what Hermione used to do with me when we were in the same house,” Harry laughed out loud at Draco’s stricken expression. 

“How dare you compare me to a Gryffindor!” Draco exclaimed defensively. 

Harry snorted, “give me a break. Now that we’re friends, I know that you two are basically the same person.” Draco sighed for seemingly the hundredth time and pushed Harry’s letter towards him. 

“Just rewrite this with better handwriting and I’ll send it back to my mother with my eagle owl.” Harry nodded and carefully began to ink his draft onto the final parchment. As soon as Harry finished, the pair of Slytherins headed to the owlery to send the letter off. 

“What else can we do?” Draco griped, looking down the empty corridor. A loud outburst came from the floor above them and they both turned to look at each other eagerly before moving up the stairs. 

From this close, both boys can clearly hear the furious voice coming from the bathroom area. 

“That’s Filch,” Harry said quietly, poking at Draco to lean back as Filch passes by them angrily. 

“I’ll be complaining to Dumbledore about this! All of this cleaning is ridiculous,” he grouches, stomping down the staircases. Draco and Harry exchanged amused looks and waited a moment for the hall to clear before going to investigate. To their surprise, Ron comes out of the bathroom with a small wet diary clutched in his hand. 

“What the bloody hell is he holding,” Draco hissed, squinting intently at Ron’s hand. Harry shrugged but silently moved back so that Draco could get closer. Harry saw a small engraving on the front that read TMR and gestured to draw Draco’s attention towards the front.

Harry watched as Draco’s jaw dropped and then stiffened. 

“What happened?” Harry whispered curiously. 

“That diary was in my manor over the summer,” Draco replied tersely, as they watched Ron exit the hallway. “We have to get that back,” Draco added, before pushing a confused Harry back in the direction of the common room. As soon as they were in the safety of their room, Harry whirled on Draco. 

“What was that about?” Harry asked. 

“That diary he had is definitely some type of dark artifact. My father had it in his possession this summer, so it being here at Hogwarts can’t mean anything good. That’s why we need to get it back,” Draco said seriously. 

“I can ask Hermione to get Neville to take it from Ron?” Harry suggested, thinking of the multiple conspiracies that could fit this story. 

“That’s a good idea. I think I’m going to owl my father about this. He has no reason to lie about this,” Draco replied, taking out his own parchment. Harry leaned back on his desk chair and watched as Draco scribbled furiously. 

“Okay, I’m going to go see if I can find Hermione to let her know,” Harry sees Draco nod in response and stands up to head towards the door again. Harry walked straight to the library, already knowing that Hermione could not possibly be anywhere else. Sure enough, he immediately sees Hermione bent over a stack of books. 

“Hi Mione, what are you reading?” Harry asked, falling into the chair opposite her. 

“The same few books about the Chamber of Secrets,” Hermione replied, her eyes seemingly scanning several pages at once. “I have a theory, but I can’t say anything until I’m absolutely positive.” 

Harry grinned. That sounded just like Hermione. “I was wondering if you could do me a favor?” he asked. 

Hermione looked up at last. “Sure, what’s wrong?” Harry settled down and began to explain to Hermione what he and Draco had seen, and a detailed description of what they believed Ron had. Harry finished his story and saw Hermione nodding along slowly. “Yes, I can go in right now. I’ll get the twins to distract him outside to play Quidditch or something.” 

“Thank you, Hermione! You are the absolute best,” Harry enthused loudly. Instantly, Madam Pince swept over and gave him a scowl. Harry rolled his eyes, but lowered his voice, “it’s literally just you and me here, I don’t know how I am disrupting anything,” he sniffed.

“You sound a bit like Malfoy nowadays,” Hermione laughed. 

“That’s funny because just an hour ago, I told him how similar he is to you,” Harry responded, cracking up at Hermione’s disturbed expression. They enter a companionable silence and Harry lights up suddenly. “Wait, I almost forgot to tell you about this!” Harry said, taking out the letter that Narcissa Malfoy had sent him, and encouraging Hermione to open it. Hermione quickly reads the letter and gapes at Harry. 

“Wait, this is so - “ Harry nods grimly at Hermione who is rarely shocked into silence. She quickly rebounded with a flurry of questions, “did you reply to her yet? Oh, and did you go to Professor Snape?” 

“Yes and yes. Snape pretty much just confirmed what Draco’s mum said in the letter. And did you know that Snape and my mum were childhood best friends?” Harry said excitedly. 

“What, no way! You should ask him about how your mum was like back then,” Hermione suggested. Harry nodded in agreement before Hermione plowed onto the next topic. She lowered her voice significantly before continuing. “You know she made a decent point about Dumbeldore being a little suspicious. Remember last year? It should not have been that easy for three first-year students to get through an obstacle course that was meant to protect something as important as the Sorcerer’s Stone.” 

“Yeah, you are right. If everything checks out on their end, I won't feel comfortable in this school anymore. Earlier today Snape suggested that I could have been manipulated into becoming the ideal Boy Who Lived or something like that. My life is absolutely bonkers,” Harry confessed. Hermione patted him on the shoulders sympathetically. 

“I am going to find the twins right now so we can get the journal you and Malfoy want. Just wait here, I’ll be back with it in maybe a half-hour. Maybe you can read over some of this research while I’m gone and let me know if I missed anything,” Hermione called, making her way off the seat and out of the library. Harry rolled his eyes sarcastically and moved into the chair that Hermione had vacated, before scanning the book that she had left closest to her. While he was a significantly more academically focused student now than he had been three weeks ago, that did not mean he was in love with reading books like Hermione. Out of sheer laziness, he decided to get up and ask Madam Pince if she had any baseline information for him. 

“Excuse me, Madam Pince,” Harry said, approaching where she was sitting at her desk. 

“Yes, Potter,” she said, looking up at Harry with a piercing gaze. 

“I was wondering if you knew anything about the Chamber of Secrets and could also direct me towards a few books,” he said hesitantly. Harry catches her eyes widen minutely and smiled inwardly. _It was almost a guarantee that no one had thought to ask her, and here he was utilizing his Slytherin resourcefulness._

“Well Mr. Potter, I can tell you that it was supposedly opened 50 years ago by someone that you are well acquainted with,” Pince replied. Harry tilted his head, looking at her curiously. “Hagrid was apprehended, but I can guarantee you that he was falsely accused by the person who had actually opened it,” 

“Who accused him?” Harry asked, mentally making a note to go and talk to Hagrid after Hermione returned. 

“A Slytherin prefect named Tom Marvolo Riddle accused Hagrid of raising an Acromantula in the castle. While not untrue, since Hagrid did do that in his third year, Acromantulas do not Petrify their victims,” Pince said, folding her hands over each other. _Now, why did that name sound so familiar? And petrification?_

“Wow, thank you for your help, Madam Pince,” Harry said, respectfully nodding his head and turning back to the table he had come from. Something was urging him to go to Hagrid and immediately ask about the truthfulness behind Pince’s story, but his rationality won over, and he decided to sit down and wait for Hermione to return. After all, Harry reckoned that he’d be able to tell Hermione what Pince told him and get her to come with him. He sat back down at the table and stacked Hermione’s books on top of each other to pass the time. 

At last, Hermione comes racing back into the library, her face red and flushed. But as she approaches, she takes out the small diary and waved it eagerly in front of Harry’s face. “I got it!” she exclaimed excitedly, before noticing all of her books closed. 

“Harry! Why are all of my books shut? Did you even read any of them?” she asked with a crestfallen look. Harry gestured at her to sit down and quickly began to fill her in. Hermione’s face is even more surprised than before and she eagerly begins to jot down some details. “This contributes further to my theory but we are going to have to go to Hagrid first to confirm everything. After that, we can examine this diary together,” Hermione said, stuffing her parchment in her pocket and standing up again. 

The pair of them trek down to Hagrid’s hut and knock on the door loudly. Hagrid opens the door with a bang and a jolly grin. “Harry and Hermione! I am so glad to see you both,” he boomed, sweeping them inside. 

“Happy Christmas!” both Harry and Hermione chorus, before thanking Hagrid for the considerate gifts he had given them earlier that morning.

“It’s not a problem,” Hagrid said, brushing off their thanks, flushing with pleasure. “What are the two of yeh doing here?” he asked, settling big mugs of tea in front of them. 

“We wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas,” Harry cut in smoothly with an easy grin, looking over at Hermione who was surely about to reveal their actual motives without any transition whatsoever.

“You all are so good! Coming out here even with all of the attacks, such great people and friends,” Hagrid sniffed, smiling at the two second-year students. _Bingo,_ Harry thought. Hermione seemingly caught onto Harry’s drift as she pushed the conversation in the correct direction. 

“These attacks are really so scary,” Hermione said, wrangling her fingers nervously, “do you know anything about it?” Harry looked up in time to see Hagrid’s dazed and confused expression. 

“I - actually don’t,” Hagrid confessed genuinely. Hermione sends Harry a puzzled look before looking at Hagrid comfortingly

“It’s alright,” Hermione sighed, before changing the conversation to a lighter topic. After an hour or so of normal conversation, Hagrid offers to walk them back to the castle, and waves goodbye to Harry and Hermione affectionately. 

“Hagrid wasn’t lying. I got used to sensing liars ever since I got put into Slytherin,” Harry said half-jokingly, as soon as Hagrid vanished from sight. 

“I think someone put a memory charm on him,” Hermione whispered speculatively, leading the way back to the library. 

“Dumbledore?” Harry questioned, seeing Hermione stiffly nod. The pair of them walk back towards the library and Harry sees a blonde head flash further ahead. “Draco!” Harry said, raising his voice a little, with the blonde instantly turning around and heading towards him. 

“Hi Harry, and Happy Christmas to you Granger,” Draco said, smoothing his hair down as he arrived in front of them. 

“We just found out so many things,” Hermione said, ignoring Draco’s holiday greeting, and taking the lead again as she quickly walked through the library entrance. Harry and Draco exchange a look and follow Hermione in. Draco wasn’t too offended, after all, he had been horrible to Hermione, and would have to work hard for her to be friendly with him. But Harry knew that with every day Hermione spent with them, she was seeing the side of Draco that Harry had decided to become friends with, and they would inevitably become friends. Draco had spent some time reflecting on his views on blood status, and while they had changed drastically in a brief period, he still had some lingering prejudices to work on. 

The trio settled down at a table and Hermione quickly began to debrief Draco on the afternoon’s events with Harry interjecting every few sentences. “And my theory is that the monster in this Chamber of Secrets is a basilisk,” Hermione said softly, her voice hushed after several disapproving looks from Madam Pince. Harry looked at Hermione in disbelief and turned to Draco for support, but to his astonishment, Draco is nodding at Hermione. 

“I think you’re right Granger. Slytherin’s mascot is a snake, Salazar Slytherin could speak to snakes, and a Basilisk is just an extremely large snake,” Draco added thoughtfully. 

Hermione was practically bursting with excitement as she declared, “so all that’s left to do is find out where the Chamber is located!” This idea was met with less support, with Harry being a little hesitant, and Draco flat out refusing. 

“You can’t be serious! You can’t just go around anywhere searching for a monster that is _intended_ to kill all muggleborns!” Draco said, looking at her seriously.

“Is this another blood supremacy thing for you?” Hermione asked violently. 

Harry quickly intervened and said, “Hermione no, this snake is _actively trying to murder muggleborns_. Draco is just saying that it’s dangerous for you to go around exploring the school.” 

“Oh right. Sorry for snapping,” Hermione apologized, to which Draco nodded in understanding.

“Right well, I reckon we should just wait for Draco’s father to get back to him with the letter before doing anything,” and before Hermione can interrupt him, Harry added, “and that includes investigating the diary. If it really is some piece of dark magic, it probably isn’t the best idea for us to poke around in it.” 

“I think we could go to Professor Snape about this. He clearly isn’t in Dumbledore’s pocket,” Draco suggested. Both Harry and Hermione nodded in agreement, as the three made their way towards the dungeons. 

They are mere footsteps away from Snape’s office before Hermione lets out a scream, as she nearly collided with a figure walking in the opposite direction. “Ron?” she asked hesitantly, looking at his bloodshot eyes. Both Harry and Draco take in Ron’s raggedy appearance, as well as his proximity to the Slytherin common room, and instantly come to the same conclusion. 

“We have to bring him in with us,” Draco said, knocking on Snape’s door after ensuring that both Harry and Hermione had a firm grip on Ron. The door opened to Snape’s annoyed face, who quickly ushered them in.

“What are you all doing here?” Ron slurred, peering up at everyone in confusion. Snape scowled at Ron who was laid out all over his chairs and looked demandingly at the gathered group for an explanation. With a look at Ron, Snape cast a silencing charm around them. Hermione quickly started up an explanation, going over what happened in the afternoon, her theories behind what the monster of the Chamber of Secrets is, and her suspicions of Dumbledore. 

“That is a surprisingly astute theory. One that I am inclined to agree with,” Snape said, giving Hermione a look of approval. Hermione took out the diary and passed it along to Harry, who began talking about how he and Draco had seen Ron leaving Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom with this diary. Upon careful inspection of the diary, Snape’s eyes alight with recognition. “Draco, your father had this last year. I suspect you owled him with your concerns.”

Draco nodded reluctantly. “I think that Weasley was trying to steal this diary back. There is something really dark about it because he almost looked possessed when Granger collided with him in the hallway.” 

Snape paused with his lips pursed and extended his hand to take the diary from Harry. “I think that you should all go back to your common rooms for today. I will take Weasley to the hospital wing myself and then take a closer look at the diary. Draco, I will also get into contact with your father, should he feel the need to not reply entirely truthfully.” 

Hermione seemed ready to argue but closed her mouth when Harry sent her a calming look. Draco and Harry replied with a resounding “yes sir,” while Hermione’s was a little more reluctant, but nevertheless, Snape waved his hand in dismissal. 

As soon as the door closed behind them, Draco turned to face a distressed Hermione. “It is better to have Snape handle this. We are students and if we try to handle this ourselves, we could get petrified or worse, actually killed,” he said, almost gently. 

“He’s right. And Hermione, we already risked our lives last year. We don’t need to make it a pattern,” Harry added reasonably. Hermione huffed in annoyance but voiced her grudging agreement. 

“I bet my father will have replied by breakfast tomorrow morning. We can all talk about it before Harry has to go to the Hospital Wing with Snape,” Draco offered. Hermione agreed and wished the boys a final Happy Christmas before turning in the direction of the Gryffindor common room. Harry and Draco watch her walk away briefly before they head back to their own dormitory. “You haven’t been running into danger mindlessly like you usually have,” Draco noted, as they stepped into their rooms once more. 

Harry laughed, “I can start doing that again if you’d like. But in this case, it’s definitely better to have a professor’s help.” Draco rolled his eyes and heaved himself onto his bed.

“You becoming entirely levelheaded is a dream, but at least being in Slytherin is helping you loads,” Draco yawned and mumbled incoherently at Harry to wake him up in time for dinner. 

Since Harry had already taken a nap that morning, he decided to just sit on his bed and think. While Harry was iffy on going to look for the monster in the Chamber of Secrets, he had no issues with merely looking for the entrance. If Hermione’s theory on the monster being a basilisk were correct, that would mean Harry would be able to talk to it. And who exactly was the Heir of Slytherin? Was there another Parseltongue in Hogwarts? The majority of Slytherins seemed to believe that despite him being a half-blood and his best friend being a Muggleborn, Harry was the Heir of Slytherin who was going around trying to murder Muggleborns. Something was not adding up. If Parseltongue was a family trait that gets passed down, could he be a descendant of Salazar Slytherin? Harry had so many questions and was desperately bursting to get them answered, so he decided to rein his curiosity in. After all, that curiosity was what frequently got him into trouble. Only time will tell if Harry's newfound self control would last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! This was a pretty quick update, since I'm trying to bang out drafted chapters before I start classes again. Let me know what you think with a comment/leave kudos ! 
> 
> Hope you're enjoying :)


	5. A Helpful Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry sets new goals after a talk with his Transfiguration and Potions Professor

The sun had begun to shine over Hogwarts again, with the months of winter flying by. There hadn’t been any more attacks, which Lockhart boastfully attributed to his presence in the school. Harry and Draco had heard him suggest a “morale booster” to McGonagall, and thought nothing of it, until February Fourteenth arrived. 

The Slytherin boys made their way towards the Great Hall for a quick breakfast, but to their horror they found the room to be covered in various shades of pink. 

“We didn’t do this last year,” Blaise commented, extracting a piece of confetti from Theo’s hair. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day!” Lockhart shouted at the groups of students entering the hall. Draco snorted and walked quickly towards the Slytherin table, with the other boys hot on his trail. The professors sitting at the Head Table were not any more pleased than the students, most of them were casting annoyed looks at Lockhart, while McGonagall and Snape were openly glaring at him.and the other professor As they hastily shovelled food down their mouths and practically ran out of the Great Hall, the four Slytherins had missed Lockhart’s exuberant announcement of dwarves delivering singing valentines throughout the day. 

Throughout the school day they had all seen the dwarves singing to various embarrassed students but thought they were clear with Theo remarking, “We should be fine. I don’t imagine Parkinson or Bullstrode would send any of us anything like that.” That is until the Slytherins made their way to Potions with the Gryffindors and a particularly frightening looking dwarf descended upon Harry. Theo and Blaise exchanged delighted looks and had settled against the dungeon wall eagerly. 

“A musical valentine for a Harry Potter!” the dwarf shouted, brandishing a harp in front of Harry’s embarrassed face. 

“Please, not here,” Harry pleaded, seeing the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins file out of Professor Snape’s classroom. He instantly spotted Ginny Weasley’s trepidant expression among the students and sighed internally, _‘She definitely sent it.”_ Harry briefly considers making a dash for the Potions room, but decides against it, seeing how the dwarf is still waving his harp around dangerously. He stands as confidently as possible, and as Harry is waiting for the dwarf to break out into song, the Gryffindors come clambering into the hallway. 

**_“His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,_ **

**_His hair is as dark as a blackboard._ **

**_I wish he was mine, he’s really divine,_ **

**_The hero who conquered the Dark Lord.”_ **

The dungeons are silent, aside from the Slytherin’s quiet laughter and Harry begins to flush, realizing that no one was coming to his rescue. 

_“_ Was that from you, Ginny?” Ron said, looking furiously at his younger sister, who was still standing amongst the Gryffindor and Slytherin first year students. Ginny squeaked and quickly scampered off, but not before sending one last horrified look at Harry. 

“Well, that was quite a damning confirmation,” Draco drawled, stepping forward to Harry’s side. Ron narrowed his eyes jealously at the sight, and pulled out his wand, but halted at Snape’s menacing figure in the doorway. Harry had never been more relieved to see Snape in his life. 

“Five points from Gryffindor. Everyone in,” Snape barked. Easily, the best thing about being in Slytherin was that Harry could breathe normally and even talk in Potions class. He constantly took advantage of this fact now, and even with Snape in a seemingly foul mood, today would be no different. 

“Harry, that was the funniest thing I have ever heard,” Theo said, from behind Harry. Blaise jokingly reenacted a dramatic reading of the poem to Harry’s embarrassment and Draco’s raucous laughter. 

“Potter, stay after class,” Snape said tonelessly, without a second glance. Harry nodded and glanced at Draco in disbelief. 

“He’s not mad, he probably just wants to update you with the situation,” Draco whispered back, discreetly instructing Harry to stir clockwise. The next two hours pass by quickly and ends with Draco bottling their completed potion. Draco gestured to Harry that he would wait for him after Snape spoke with him, to Harry’s gratitude. 

Harry followed Snape’s billowing robes into his office, and to his surprise, saw McGonagall sitting in one of the chairs. 

“Hi Professor,” Harry greeted, falling into the offered chair. McGonagall smiled briefly at him before sitting up straighter.

“Severus, are you sure that we should be telling Mr. Potter the entire story?” she asked, casting a critical look at the dour Potions professor. Harry tilted his head curiously, but remained silent and sitting. 

“Yes Minerva. The fact that he has not incessantly pestered you for the entire story yet is a good enough reassurance for me. After all, he deserves the full truth,” Snape replied, before addressing Harry. “Potter, I would have invited Draco in here too, but it turns out that his father was not entirely truthful with him. So, what I am telling you right now will have to just stay between you and me until you can properly gauge Draco’s viewpoint on this. Also, I am telling you this because I believe you are now mature enough to not go off gallivanting into danger by yourself,” Snape paused briefly, seeing Harry nod. “The diary that you found Weasley in possession of is a dark item that holds the memories of Tom Marvolo Riddle. It is my, as well as Professor McGonagall’s belief that this is the name of the young Lord Voldemort.” Harry gaped up at his two professors in disbelief, before making an attempt to shut his mouth properly. 

McGonagall smoothly added on, “It is highly likely that Lucius Malfoy was in possession of this item at the behest of He Who Must Not Be Named. While Draco is only a young boy, and is making improvements to who he is as a person, he still greatly idolizes his father. And his father was a supporter of He Who Must Not Be Named.” 

“That brings us to the next point about your housing situation. In conjunction with Draco’s parents, we have uncovered exactly what Dumbledore did to stick you with your Muggle relatives. We are almost there on the legal side, and I’m expecting an update any day now. As for your future magical guardians, ideally the Malfoy’s could teach you about the Wizarding World, but we are unsure about their intentions. It could be genuine, or they could be a hidden agenda.”

“Professor, may I know what Dumbeldore did?” Harry asked, his curiosity getting to him. Snape nodded understandingly and began to explain. 

“You had a godfather who was your father’s best friend when they were at school. You were supposed to live with him, should anything have happened to your parents. However, he was apprehended as a Death Eater, and is now in a magical prison. This made everything simple for Dumbledore, and he easily took over as your magical guardian. He cited “blood protection wards” as a reason for sticking you with Petunia, your closest relative.” 

“Before you ask, the blood protection wards apply for anyone that your parents had deemed to be their friend. So, you could have lived with Severus, Molly, and Arthur, or even with me,” McGonagall added. Harry almost laughed while imagining himself living in McGonagall’s home, but he sobered up immediately at Snape’s warning look. 

“Is there a chance that I won’t have to go back to the Dursley’s?” Harry asked hesitantly, nervous to look up and into Snape’s knowing eyes. 

Harry had dreaded the day after Christmas because he had no choice but to go to the Hospital Wing with Snape. Madam Pomfrey had done a quick physical examination and took painstaking time to get Harry to admit the treatment he faced at the hands of his relatives… all in front of his previously most hated Professor. If it were just Pomfrey, Harry would have had an easier time confessing, but with Professor Snape scrutinizing him, it took nearly five hours for him to come totally clean. The mediwitch had confirmed that his various stories matched his injuries and scolded Snape for not bringing Harry in earlier. While Harry wasn’t heavily abused, he knew he was underweight and likely had a few unhealed wounds from his relatives’ temper and negligence in his childhood. Five hours after he had first come in, Harry had finally been allowed to leave the Hospital Wing, but not without taking several nutrient potions and promising to come back for check ups once a week. He had followed that schedule since Christmas, especially because Pomfrey had threatened to bench him off Quidditch if he showed no signs of improvement. One glower from Snape was all it took for Harry to obediently down each nutrient potion and show up to his weekly assessments. 

“You absolutely will never have to go back,” McGonagall says, with a proud smirk befitting a Slytherin. 

“The legal aspect is looking very promising. And on top of that, Professor McGonagall apparently sees no repercussions from you simply not showing up at the train station come summer holiday,” Snape elaborated, and turned to inspect his bookshelves briefly. A petulantly muttered “typical Gryffindors” comes from the corner of the room, to McGonagall’s amusement. 

“You don’t have to decide who you would rather stay with now. But seeing as you and Mr. Weasley are no longer friends, your safest bet is probably Severus or I,” McGonagall swiftly added, moving to stand up. “Well Mr. Potter, I will see you in class later this week.” With McGonagall’s early exit, Harry was left with Snape, who was watching him carefully. 

“Potter, I must ask that you only tell your friends the latter half of our conversation. Their fathers were all Death Eaters too,” Snape warned. 

“I understand. Sir, there is just one thing I’m a little confused on,” Harry paused, thinking of how to voice his concerns concisely. “While I am angry at Dumbeldore’s manipulations, won’t people expect me to be able to defeat the Dark Lord again? From last year, I knew that his weakened spirit is still out there. And especially with his diary that you have… which has his essence in it?” 

Essentially, Harry was feeling conflicted with his identity. He had enjoyed the last few months in Slytherin, and the fact that these were the children of people who followed the man who murdered his parents was a little unsettling at times. Harry also had no misgivings about Darker magic, since he understood the “magic is about intent” concept. But on the other hand, he had no desire to be Dumbeldore’s Boy Who Lived perfect puppet.

Snape nodded. “I do know what you are trying to get at. It is very difficult to live a life in the middle of the seemingly extreme Light and extreme Dark, I would understand this better than anyone. As a Slytherin, you most likely have seen how your current housemates do not shy away from Darker magic, while your old housemates probably will never learn a lick of Dark magic. Dumbledore is one of those people who advocate for eradicating Dark magic entirely or at the least, punishing those who practice it. All you must know is that Dark magic doesn’t mean evil, as Light magic isn’t always good. There are horrible people in both groups, but should your goals happen to align with either side, that side would be the side that a Slytherin would go to. But then again, you aren’t just trying to blend in. You are not the conventional Slytherin.”

Harry tightened his hold on the seat, his mind beginning to turn over what Snape was saying. He thought back to his first week with his new housemates, remembering how easily he had captured their respect. Harry had known that he could make sweeping changes in Slytherin, but his only progress had come through lessening Draco, Theo, and Blaise’s prejudice towards muggleborns. After a few moments of quiet contemplation, Harry thanked Professor Snape for his help and was dismissed. As he walked outside to meet up with Draco, he was mildly aware that he had been manipulated into action by Snape himself, but ultimately decided that this was for the better good.

“That was a long talk,” Draco said casually, peering at Harry’s slightly dazed look. 

“I’ll tell you when we get back to our room,” Harry replied, trying to think of what he should tell Draco and how he should act from now on. He didn’t want to lose the easiness of his newfound friendships, but he had to ensure that their mindset on blood status changed completely. Seeing change in the Slytherin house as a whole would be even more challenging, but worth it. Maybe he wouldn’t even have to work that hard. After all, most of the Slytherin upper years had merely blinked a little at seeing Hermione with the four Slytherin boys in the library. As the pair traipse through the dungeons and walk into their room, Harry sees Draco shoot furtive glances at him every thirty seconds. 

“Snape said that it’s extremely likely I won’t have to go back to my relatives and that I’ll probably end up with him or McGonagall as my magical guardian,” Harry said bluntly. 

“That’s great news!” Draco perked up, “is that all that you talked about?” 

“He just asked if I had any issues from the Slytherins because I’m still friends with Hermione and a few Gryffindors,” Harry replied, testing the waters carefully. 

“Granger really isn’t that bad. Maybe one day we’ll be friends,” Draco said, flicking nonexistent dust off his sweater. Harry nodded slowly and approvingly. “And I doubt that they’d have any problems with what you do. They think that you’re Slytherin’s Heir, and with that title, you’re never wrong with anything you do,” 

“Do you believe that I’m Slytherin’s Heir?” Harry asked curiously. 

“Well there isn’t only one heir of course, but I think that you’re at least connected to the family somehow. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to speak to snakes,” Draco replied. 

“I think Snape and your mother are looking into my inheritance. I might be able to find out there,” Harry said thoughtfully. 

“I’m sure that they’ll get back to you soon enough,” Draco said, stretching out on his bed tiredly. 

“Go take a nap,” Harry laughed, “I’ll wake you for dinner.” And with that, Draco’s snores begin to fill the room, with Harry sitting quietly in contemplation. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am now back at uni, and totally forgot to update !! This chapter was a bit of a filler, but I hope you didn't mind the amount of dialogue. I'll try harder to be consistent, as always, drop kudos/comment if you enjoyed :)


	6. Attacks and Escapes

In the next few weeks, Harry slowly started to invite his remaining Gryffindor friends to sit at the Slytherin table during meals. Namely, Hermione, Neville, and the Weasley twins. No one seemed to have much of an issue with this, the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws barely noticing, and the most other Slytherins not caring at all. The Slytherin prefects had looked up at Professor Snape with uncertain and questioning looks, but he stared blankly back at them, to their astonishment. Of course, Ron was up in arms over this “betrayal”, but he could do nothing about it. All it took was a chastening glare from McGonagall for him to sit down grumpily. The most interesting of all the reactions was Dumbledore, as Harry had noticed Dumbledore look down at the newly established seating arrangements calculatingly. 

At the table, Theo and Draco had easily engaged Hermione in conversation as they always did during their library sessions. Neville had found a friend in Blaise, who seemed determined to make Neville And to absolutely no one’s surprise, the Weasley twins got along with everyone, and the Slytherins were no exception. With Fred and George sitting amongst them, the snakes could easily purchase their joke products. 

Even though it had been nearly four months since the last attacks, Harry’s new group had not let up with their intense research on the Chamber of Secrets and its monster. At this point, Hermione was almost positive that the monster was a basilisk, and had everyone in agreement. She warned them to carry around mirrors in case they were confronted by the monster, to which Blaise had readily agreed. He already carried around hand mirrors, of course. Theo suggested going to Snape with their findings, but Harry had refused, saying that he would only get Snape involved if something happened that directly affected them. 

It seemed that luck was not on the Slytherin boys' side. The four were halfway through a Herbology class with the Hufflepuffs, when Professor Snape came striding through the greenhouse entrance. 

“Pomona, if I could take Mr. Potter,” he requested, motioning at Harry to collect his belongings. Sprout nodded in acceptance, briefly relaying the homework assignment to Harry before pushing him to follow Snape’s almost frantic pace. Draco’s concerned face looked at Harry, as Harry sent him a grim smile in farewell. 

“Professor, what’s wrong?” Harry asked, breaking out into a run to keep up with Snape’s significantly longer gait. 

“You will keep your temper in check when I tell you,” Snape warned, slowing down slightly to notice Harry’s worry. Harry nodded reluctantly in agreement. “Two things. First, Granger is in the Hospital Wing and she was attacked. I’m taking you to see her briefly before we head to our next location. Second, Dumbledore was tipped off by someone and he knows that you know. I am sure he is hurrying to settle his affairs and to go to the Ministry or Gringotts to bury your inheritance.” At this point, Harry is nearly tripping over his feet, his whole body shaking with concern and rage. 

“Sir, I-” 

“We’re here and be quick about her right hand,” Snape muttered, remaining by the entrance to the Hospital Wing as Harry nodded and made his way quickly to Hermione’s bedside. He instantly glanced at her clenched fist, and carefully unfurled her fingers. He peered at the parchment and saw a few sentences worth of Hermione’s writing. 

“Take it with you,” Snape called quietly, and with one last final glance at Hermione’s frozen figure, Harry crossed back over to Snape’s side. “You can look at that when we are safe, but right now, we need to get to Gringotts as soon as possible. We’re going to Floo to Diagon through my office.” Harry forced himself to slow his breathing. He wouldn’t be any help to anyone while all frantic and worried. Snape threw his office door open and handed a bucket of Floo powder to Harry. “You need to be sure to say ‘Diagon Alley’ very clearly,” the professor cautioned.

Harry nodded stoically and pinched a handful of the powder. “Diagon Alley!” he shouted. The boy landed on his rear but quickly got to his feet when he realized there was a small throng of people gawking at him. Snape appeared mere moments later and quickly led Harry in the direction of the Wizarding bank at the end of the Alley. 

“We are going to take a look at your inheritance, and your parents’ wills. We may even have time to settle the issue of your magical guardian before Dumbledore arrives. Lucius is holding him off for as long as possible. I would suggest that you decide who you wish your guardian to be, whether it’s me or McGonagall.” Snape had seen the question written all over Harry’s face as he continued. “Don’t be bothered with offending me. I already alerted Minerva, she can be here at a moment’s notice.” 

“You’re already my Head of House, so maybe Professor McGonagall would be best,” Harry said flimsily, almost feeling embarrassed as Snape threw a semi-amused glance at him. 

“It’s not like I don’t already know how you do in your classes, but very well. I will alert her now,” Snape replied, conjuring and speaking into a shimmering figure. As Snape and Harry neared the entrance to Gringotts, a crack sounded and McGonagall appeared standing at the doors of the bank. She gave Snape a brief nod, and a small smile to Harry and the trio walked in together. If the situation wasn’t so urgent, Harry would have laughed at the barminess of it all. The first-year Harry could never have conjured this type of situation, even in a dream. Lost in his thoughts, Harry did not register McGonagall’s return from a tense conversation with a goblin standing to the side. 

“Potter, you don’t have your vault key, but your blood will be sufficient to confirm that you are descended from the Potter’s,” McGonagall said, critically eyeing the unapologetic looking goblin who had accompanied her and was carrying a small bowl and knife. Harry gulped and nodded, offering his right hand. A slash later, his blood filled nearly half of the bowl, and the goblin leered at Harry’s dazed expression as the knife wound began to close up. The goblin gave Harry a moment to reacquaint himself before directing him, and the two professors into a vault cart. 

“The vault will accept you when I put your blood on the wall, once your heredity is confirmed. The Potter family has their inheritance test within the vault, which you will also take,” the goblin barked. A dizzying ride ensues and Harry is pushed out of the vault cart by the goblin. 

“We will wait out here,” Snape said, as Harry turned around to face them hesitantly. Harry looked at the Potter vault with brief uncertainty but then straightened his back, as he had learned in Slytherin. 

“You see that?” Harry heard Snape whisper victoriously to McGonagall.

“James Potter must be thrilled you taught his son how to be a true Slytherin,” McGonagall deadpanned. Harry faintly detected Snape’s snort before he registered that the goblin had thrown his blood all over the Potter vault door. ‘How disrespectful,’ his inner pompous persona mused. 

“Go on in and get to the inheritance test” the goblin droned, pointing at the door that was beginning to creak open. Harry nodded stiffly, walking through the doors. While he knew he was supposed to be searching for the test, he could not help but notice the grandeur of this vault. If he thought that the vault he had visited in his first-year was surreal, this vault was far beyond that. The walls were adorned with moving portraits of his ancestors, all of whom had woken up from their slumber and were watching him curiously. The head portraits of two men still lay in slumber. 

“Uh, excuse me. Could I have some assistance with finding the Potter inheritance test?” Harry voiced hesitantly, attempting to inject some confidence into his shaky tone. 

“You’re a Slytherin,” one portrait said flatly, grimacing at Harry’s emerald and silver tie. And to Harry’s disappointment, a few portraits made sounds of agreement.

“And what does that have to do with anything? I am still family,” Harry replied fiercely, forgoing his previous nervousness. After a brief pause, the two portraits at the center of the vault began to laugh heartily. All the portraits and Harry whipped around to see the two men watching Harry himself. 

“Your family members are rather ridiculous,” the portrait on the left said, his inflection sounding awfully similar to a snake’s hiss. Harry bit back a laugh and instead nodded. 

“I agree,” he replied. The portraits gasped. 

The portrait on the right guffawed and slapped his knee. “I can’t believe our family is this slow,” he said, eyeing the stricken portraits in front of him. 

“Sir Godric… why are there snake speakers in here? What does this mean?” asked the portrait that had first pointed out Harry’s Slytherin tie. Wh- snake speakers? Bloody hell… 

“You’re Salazar Slytherin!” Harry exclaimed, interrupting the portrait’s tirade. Slytherin’s portrait chuckled and nodded. 

“Yes indeed. I know that you don’t have much time, so I will direct you to the inheritance test that no descendant of the Potter house was worthy of aside from your father and now, you,” Salazar Slytherin said, leaving his portrait view but returning with a wooden box. “Prick your right ring finger and let the blood drop on the paper,” he instructed. 

To Harry’s great trepidation, all of the portraits were staring at him as he fumbled with the latch of the wooden box and pricked his finger. As soon as the blood dripped onto the paper, slanted scrawl filled the parchment. 

* * *

**_Heir:_ **

_Potter (Primary)_

_Black_

_Slytherin (2nd inline)_

_Gryffindor (not blood-related but in name)_

* * *

Harry had never been more gobsmacked in his life. So, the people who accused him of being Slytherin’s heir were not exactly wrong. 

“We are sure you have questions, but first, we are going to tell you what needs to be done to escape the undersides of your headmaster’s thumb,” Godric Gryffindor boomed. 

“You have everything laid out legally, as we have heard from our other portrait locations. You just need your future magical guardian to sign these,” Slytherin said, dropping a few parchments onto Harry’s lap. 

“Could I bring my professors in here? Just in case they have a few questions?” Harry asked nervously. Both Godric and Salazar nodded in agreement, as Harry paced back to the entrance to bring McGonagall and Snape in. 

“I am going to pop into my ministry portrait to check on everything. Please do keep everything moving along,” Godric said, to which Harry tersely nodded. He had to get back to Hogwarts and check up on Hermione after all. 

“Professors, the portraits said I can bring you both in,” Harry said excitedly, gesturing back into the room. Snape looked affronted at the idea of him being in a vault that James Potter had been in, but McGonagall nodded and swept towards the entrance. “Professor McGonagall, Salazar said that you have to sign over these papers to become my magical guardian,” Harry explained, bringing the papers over to her.

“Wh-” 

“You have never moved in the portrait behind my desk!” Snape exclaimed, pointing a finger at Salazar’s jaunty smirk. 

“What is Slytherin’s portrait doing in your family vault?” McGonagall asked curiously. Harry hesitated before bringing out the parchment with his inheritance on it. McGonagall looked at the paper appraisingly and nodded before returning to scanning the papers that Harry had given her. Snape had attempted to give Salazar a cold shoulder for his deception but ultimately gave in to the allure of knowledge. Harry watched them talk for a moment, before turning his attention back to McGonagall who had summoned a quill to sign her name. 

“All done,” she announced and signed her name with a flourish. The magic pulsed through the room, as it recognized McGonagall as Harry’s magical guardian. McGonagall stood back up with a huff and guided Harry back towards where Godric, who had returned, was talking to Salazar and Snape.

“Dumbledore is still being held back at the Ministry, but he could easily arrive here at any time. I would recommend that you all apparate back to Hogsmeade as soon as possible,” Godric said, nodding seriously at the gathered group. 

“Alright, let’s get going,” McGonagall said, shepherding Harry towards the exit. 

“Perhaps you will talk to me in your portrait,” Snape said, bowing respectfully to Salazar’s amusement. 

“We will see,” he replied, waving Harry and the two professors out of the vault. As Harry stumbled behind McGonagall and Snape’s significantly longer strides, he felt a flash of apprehension. There was no way that this day would end without some sort of catastrophe, Harry thought worriedly. As McGonagall instructed him to hold on to her arm and pulled him into an apparition, any rational thought flew out of his mind. A flash of dizzying pain later, Harry cracked open his eyes to see McGonagall and Snape both standing protectively in front of him. In between their figures, Harry caught a glimpse of a long beard a bit down the path and suppressed his groan. _Dumbledore found them._

“Minerva, Severus! Why do you have Harry out at Hogsmeade in the middle of the school day?” Dumbledore asked with an attempt at a caring grandfatherly tone. Harry squinted his eyes up, trying to make out exactly where they were. _Godric had said Hogsmeade? It looked like they were in the middle of a village of some sort._ Harry faintly saw the figure of an older woman watching them from the steps of a bar and set his head back down on the grass in defeat. He could hardly see anything and it seemed that Snape did not want him involved anyway. At the very least, Harry was able to see Snape’s aggressive hand movement behind his back that was pointing down towards the ground. Harry knew that Snape was likely formulating an extravagant lie to feed Dumbledore’s concerns, but with McGonagall here… That seemed unlikely to be carried out successfully. 

“I am sure you know why, Albus. I cannot believe that you would do something like this to Harry. Everything is taken care of now,” McGonagall sniffed angrily. Snape sighed audibly. 

Dumbledore again tried to feign ignorance with a puzzled expression, although his annoyance was becoming more apparent by the second. With other people being in close vicinity, there was no way that Dumbledore could do anything. Harry exhaled a little in relief, they would be fine for now. 

“Albus, what did you do to the Boy Who Lived?” the woman standing at the entrance of the bar asked, looking down and spotting said Boy Who Lived, lying flat down on the grass. 

“He stuck Harry with his abusive Muggle relatives!” McGonagall exclaimed angrily. “Oh and Rosmerta, Harry is just recovering from his first-ever Apparition. He’s a little dizzy“ she added as an afterthought. Harry attempted to nod feebly and flopped his head back down. He distantly heard a crack and poked McGonagall and Snape to alert them. 

“What? Dumbledore, I thought you would have cared for all of your students as the Headmaster!” Rosmerta said, a dangerous look entering her eyes. 

“Yes Dumbledore, I think we all would have thought the same,” a silky voice emerged from a side alley. _Draco’s dad!_ Harry feigned a show of weakness, before gingerly getting to his knees. Mr. Malfoy was accompanied by Mrs. Malfoy, as well as the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge.

“Lovely afternoon for a random stroll through Hogsmeade,” Dumbledore said faintly, eyeing Lucius and the Minister with barely concealed anger. 

“I was looking to buy more quills for my son,” Mrs. Malfoy replied smoothly, taking out a bag presumably filled with luxury quills. 

“Albus, I cannot condone your behavior this year,” Harry noted Fudge’s nervous disposition and how he seemed to struggle to enunciate his words confidently. _Mr. Malfoy manipulated him to come here_ , Harry thought. “Not only for what you have done to Mr. Potter. But with all of these attacks, and another one today! Still, no one has been arrested. I have a good mind to come in and arrest the previous culprit,” Fudge said decisively, attempting to briskly walk in the direction of Hagrid’s hut. 

“My gamekeeper is not guilty!” Dumbledore protested, walking up to meet Fudge’s pace. 

“Then we can take you in instead. The parents are complaining that we haven’t made any arrests and it is true,” Fudge blustered. 

“There are multiple charges we could have on you actually, as we established earlier today. Mr. Potter has a new magical guardian after all,” Mr. Malfoy cut in, smiling maliciously. 

“It’ll be better if you cooperate,” Fudge added unhelpfully. Just as those words left Fudge’s mouth, Dumbledore looked at Harry oddly.

“I’ll be back,” he said simply, and disapparated on the spot. Fudge grumbled in annoyance and called out a quick farewell before disapparating back to the Ministry. Mr. Malfoy sniffed haughtily, in a manner remarkably similar to Draco, and turned to face Snape, McGonagall, and Harry, who had clambered to his feet awkwardly. 

“Mr. Potter, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you after you and my son have become friends,” Mr. Malfoy said, extending an arm out to Harry. Harry did not know the proper greeting, so he decided to just slightly bow and clasp Mr. Malfoy’s arm. From behind Draco’s dad, Mrs. Malfoy was standing with a look of approval at Harry’s attempt. 

“You can call me Harry,” Harry said modestly, nodding respectfully to both of Draco’s parents. Mrs. Malfoy smiled at him briefly before engaging Professor McGonagall in conversation. 

“So, Harry… As I understand from my son, you are a Parselmouth, correct?” Mr. Malfoy asked curiously. 

“Yes sir,” Harry replied, taking a glance at Snape who was standing next to them. His expression gave away nothing, and he looked entirely too bored for someone who had been so frantic only a few hours prior. 

“I hope my son didn’t pester you to show him. He loves snakes after all,” Harry was almost shocked by the normal-sounding conversation he was having with a man who had antagonized him at the start of this year. _That’s a Slytherin for you_ , Harry thought quietly. 

“No, he only asked once. Most of the time, we just study with Theo, Blaise, and Hermione,” Harry offered, smiling internally at Mr. Malfoy’s perplexed face and Snape’s subtly impressed one. 

“Draco grew up with Theo and Blaise, but who is Hermione?” he asked. 

“Her surname is Granger. She was my best friend when I was still in Gryffindor, and we are still friends. She’s the top of our year in every class,” Harry said proudly, noticing Mr. Malfoy’s slight grimace. 

“Well, I am glad that you still have support from your old housemates,” Mr. Malfoy said, slightly stiffly before excusing himself to rejoin his wife who was still talking with McGonagall. After a few quiet moments, Harry looked up at Snape. 

“You did well with that,” Snape said, almost _sounding proud_ to Harry’s great amusement. “Let’s head back up to the dungeons, it is getting late. Minerva can handle herself as the acting Headmaster.” And with a brief farewell, the pair made their way back up to the castle. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I have a somewhat longer chapter here as compensation for my several delays :) This semester is absolutely crazyyy already but I really am trying to stick to my one chapter/week post schedule. I am planning for this fic to be around 12-15 chapters long, and will probably have a set chapter length for the next update.
> 
> Next chapter: what Hermione wrote in that piece of paper and a surprise reappearance!! 
> 
> Thanks for reading and of course, drop a comment/kudos if you enjoyed!!


	7. Salazar's Heirs

As the pair traipsed into Hogwarts and passed the Hospital Wing, Harry peered into the room. The curtains around her bed were still drawn, and he sighed but then perked up. _The paper!_ Harry discreetly took out the paper that he had folded into his back pocket and started to read Hermione’s hurried script. 

**_The diary is back in the Gryffindor common room. Saw Dumbledore with it, and he came into our common room to talk to Ron and Ginny._ **

“Watch where you’re walking,” Snape muttered after Harry stumbled over his robes for the second time within a minute. 

“I’m just reading,” Harry replied, scanning the few lines Hermione had written over and over. He did not want to elaborate because he knew there were portraits around that were most likely loyal to Dumbledore.

“Surprising,” Snape snarked, before turning around and realizing that Harry was reading. 

“Professor, could I go to your office and have some dinner maybe? I missed two meals after all,” Harry asked, praying that Snape wouldn’t question his request.

“That is fine. I will ask a house-elf to bring some refreshments shortly,” Snape said, opening his office door and ushering Harry inside. The second that the door clicked shut, Harry unfurled the parchment onto Snape’s desk. 

“Sir, look at all of this,” Harry said, drawing Snape’s attention from the house-elf who had brought in a few sandwiches back to his desk. Snape turned back to Harry and eyed the words with apprehension. 

“I didn’t want to tell you all but the diary vanished from my office last week. But aside from that, she appears to be insinuating that Dumbledore broke into my office. The idea of Dumbledore being involved is concerning,” Snape said seriously. Harry nodded in anticipation.

“Do you think that is possible?” Harry asked, practically bursting with questions over the identity of the diary snatcher. 

“It would be easy to place the blame on Lucius for bringing the diary into Hogwarts, but perhaps we are missing something… '' Snape trailed off apprehensively. 

“I should be safe at school, right?”

Snape nodded, “You are fine here. The magic of Hogwarts will not allow him back in this school at this point.” Harry chewed on his sandwich thoughtfully and looked across to see Snape deep in thought. 

“Professor, what do you think is really going on here?” 

“I have a theory, but I do not want you to get involved unless absolutely necessary. You have to keep your head down for these next few weeks because we are not going to put you at risk,” Snape replied tersely. At his Head of House’s silencing look, Harry dropped his questions and sighed internally. He really did not get any more knowledge out of this, but perhaps it would be better for him to stay out of everything happening. 

“Once you’re done eating, I will accompany you straight back to your room. I will also tell your roommates what happened this past day, an acceptable version of what happened today,” Snape said. Sensing the end of their conversation, Harry scarfed his final sandwich down and stood back up. 

“I’m all ready,” Harry offered, waiting for Snape to head back to the door. With the entrance of the Slytherin common room in sight, Harry nearly sighs with relief. _Finally._ Only a few upper-years are lounging on the sofas, who quickly straightened up seeing Snape’s looming figure at the door. He gave them a quick look and proceeded in the direction of the second-year rooms, with Harry quickly pacing after him. Snape threw the door open and Harry laughed as he saw all the boys practically snapping their necks in their haste to see who had opened the door. 

“Hi Professor, what happened today?” Draco had recovered first and boldly asked the first question on his mind. 

“Your housemate here chose McGonagall to be his new magical guardian and is actually a descendant of Slytherin,” Snape said, feigning immense disinterest. Theo, who loved Transfiguration more than anything, threw an envious look at Harry. 

“That’s so nice, you’ll probably learn so much from McGonagall over the summer and then you’ll know more Transfiguration than me next year,” Theo sighed. Harry grinned at him and moved from Snape’s side to sit down on his bed. 

“Yes indeed. I am going to tell you all of this now so that you won’t be too surprised tomorrow when you don’t see Dumbledore at breakfast. McGonagall will be our acting Headmistress. I expect to hear absolutely no rumors come from Slytherin, so do what you must,” Snape said, sending one more look at Harry, before bidding them a good evening. 

“That wasn’t the full story, was it?” Draco asked, knowingly nodding at Harry. 

“Hermione got petrified,” Harry replied, sadly wondering if he would be allowed to visit his friend with all of these inevitable restrictions throughout the castle. Surely McGonagall would not be as lax as Dumbledore had been throughout these attacks. 

“Oh… Sorry mate,” Draco said, coming to Harry’s bedside to give him a comforting shoulder pat. The other boys echoed the sentiment, and Harry nodded gratefully. Thankfully, he had chosen to say something that he was genuinely upset about, so the Slytherin boys gave him time to himself. After a few minutes of hearing their hushed conversation, Harry decided to make his way to the bathrooms for a shower. As the water sprayed down on him, Harry found himself turning everything over in his head. He heard Snape’s warning distantly ring in his head but he shrugged it off. There was no harm in just thinking after all.

Harry hadn’t given himself time to truly celebrate this, but he was truly free from the Dursley’s now. He wouldn’t ever have to work for a meal, and he now had a proper guardian who could really teach him about almost everything. Provided that all of his friends got through this year, he imagined a summer break filled with being able to see them and even learning some new magic with McGonagall. Harry’s excitement dulled suddenly, as he remembered Hermione was lying frozen on a hospital bed, and that she was there because Hogwarts wasn’t safe with this basilisk loose. Part of him ached to find the Chamber since he was positive that he could talk to the basilisk. Only two questions remained: _Where was the Chamber located? And would the basilisk listen to_ **_him_ ** _over whoever was commanding it?_ He was second in line in Slytherin’s heir, but as Harry mulled this over for several minutes, he crossed out the idea of Ron or Ginny as the heir. Those two were involved, but how? Harry stepped out of the shower and toweled his hair dry, his eyes shut deep in thought. _Slytherin’s… wait. Couldn’t he just ask Salazar where he built his chamber?_ Harry nearly smacked himself for not having thought of this idea earlier when he had been in his family’s vault with Salazar Slytherin himself. 

“Harry, you’re a real dunce,” he muttered to himself, walking back to the room and settling into his sheets. Draco’s desk lamp was the only one on, and he appeared to be feverishly revising his Transfiguration essay. Feeling the warmth of Harry’s gaze on his neck, Draco turned around and smiled at him, which Harry guiltily returned before really turning in for the night. He drifted off to sleep, vowing to tell Draco the truth in the morning. 

At the same time that Harry had his post-shower realization, Snape was pacing around his room frantically. Upon her entrance, McGonagall had placed a hot cup of tea at Snape’s desk, which had gone unnoticed by the worried Potions professor.

“Severus, you need to sit down. He is not going to come back to his portrait just because you shout his name for over an hour. Perhaps he is doing something else,” McGonagall sniffed, annoyed at having been woken up by Snape’s dramatics. 

“Minerva you don’t get it! He can tell us where the Chamber is!” Snape exclaimed, but dropped into his chair at last. 

“Yes, I am well aware. And I just told you that Godric went off to look for him and to tell him to come here. Now drink your tea,” McGonagall said sternly, beginning to lose her patience with her ex-student who was horribly prone to emotional outbursts. Snape sighed but slowly began to sip at the tea that McGonagall reheated for him. 

“Even when he does tell us where the Chamber is, what are you going to do about it? Neither of us are Parseltongues,” McGonagall chides. Her expression suddenly drops at the insinuation of her statement. 

“Minerva, I don’t think I can keep him out of the loop for any longer. I am sure he is putting the small bits he is given together, and I am worried that he still has those foolish Gryffindor tendencies,” 

“Especially with Ms. Granger in the Hospital Wing...” McGonagall’s eyes are beginning to tear up as she mentioned one of her best students. 

“Perhaps allowing him to visit her would be good?” Snape queried.

“That could be true but it is more likely that seeing his best friend lying there petrified will encourage him to act recklessly,” McGonagall replied knowingly. Snape is taken aback for a few moments before he nodded in agreement. 

“Well, we know he will have to be involved in some capacity. I would rather us get to the bottom of this before more students are attacked,” Snape said. 

“I agree. I am thinking of telling him tomorrow morning. He has my class first thing in the morning, so I will just keep him back. You should be there,” McGonagall suggested. 

“I will be there. We will likely have to dispel rumors about Dumbledore’s disappearance, what are you going to say to the students tomorrow?” 

“No one would buy the truth, almost every student still thinks very highly of him,” McGonagall contemplated. “I’ll say something general,” she decided, an unhappy frown written on her expression. 

“Who knows, maybe we will get lucky and he will do something to expose himself soon enough,” Snape said, both professors thinking back to how Dumbledore had ominously promised to return earlier that day. 

“I am back,” a voice announced from behind Snape’s desk. Both McGonagall and Snape spin around in shock, having been abruptly brought out of their thoughts. 

“So I heard from Godric that you both want to know where I built the Chamber… And while I normally would never give you a straightforward answer, the person behind these attacks is not representing my blood well at all,” Salazar said, inspecting his nails casually to Snape’s brief annoyance. Snape looked as if he was seconds away from exploding if Salazar didn’t disclose the location of the Chamber within the next few breaths. 

“The entrance is in the second-floor girls' lavatory. To be specific, there is a sink with a snake engraved on the tap, and if you just say ‘open’ in Parseltongue, the sink will leave a pipe exposed. So, the chamber is below the school, and my pet basilisk resides there.” 

“Could we not just bring your portrait to this sink?” McGonagall asked, not wanting to risk Harry’s life for this. 

“Who is the person behind this?” Snape asked, only seconds after McGonagall had spoken. 

“Because my magic reinforces the magic of Hogwarts, my portraits are attached to these walls. I wish I could help with this, but this is something that my second heir must do,” Salazar sighed. McGonagall and Snape exchanged disheartened looks. “But he can do this. And with you two there, he won’t get into an unnecessary amount of danger,” Salazar added, seeing their discouraged faces. 

“Who’s behind this?” Snape questioned again after the room was filled with silence. 

“Tom Riddle,” Salazar admitted. McGonagall stood up with a hand clapped to her mouth in disbelief, but Snape sat there with a dazed expression. “Severus?” 

“The diary. Voldemort put an essence of his soul into that diary,” Snape muttered, wringing his fingers. 

“You don’t mean…” McGonagall sat back down slowly. 

“After stealing it from my office, Dumbledore actively encouraged either Ron or Ginny to write in that diary. There is no doubt he knew it was a Dark artifact.” 

“So who do you think is being possessed to summon the Basilisk?” McGonagall asked in a hushed whisper. 

“I imagine it was Ms. Weasley at first. And then Mr. Weasley stumbled across it and was almost immediately entranced by the diary’s magic. Now, it’s just a matter of seeing who took the diary after Dumbledore brought it to their attention,” Snape said. 

“You need to act fast. I don’t want any more magical deaths at the hands of my misguided first heir,” Salazar said mournfully. 

“Tomorrow after breakfast I will ask both of them to come to my office,” McGonagall decided. 

“Please keep me informed. I am going to check in with Mr. Potter after breakfast, so if anything should go wrong in your office, I will be available,” Snape said. The two professors and Salazar’s portrait lapse into silence, each person filled with their own fears. 

“We can’t do much tomorrow if we barely get any sleep. I’ll be off, see you tomorrow,” McGonagall abruptly broke the silence and got up from her chair.

“Be safe,” Snape called after her retreating figure. After a few moments of quiet, Snape sighed and looked up at Salazar. 

“Harry will be okay with both of you there. And it is far better that he has the two of you with him. Imagine if he was just an empty brained Gryffindor charging into the Chamber by himself,” Salazar said, in an attempt to soothe Snape’s fears. 

“I’d struggle to admit this in front of any other, but I am becoming fond of him,” Snape said gruffly. 

“Well, Harry is a good kid. And he will grow into his Slytherin self-preservation qualities more and more, so don’t worry too much over it,” Salazar added. After conversing with Salazar about a new potion Snape had discovered, they bid each other a good night. As Snape settled into his own bed after a long shower, he briefly reminded himself of everything that he and McGonagall would have to do the next day. So much could go wrong tomorrow... he could only hope for no complications.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I have so many exams this week, so I decided to split this chapter and the next chapter up. I also planned everything out and am projecting this to end at 11 chapters! As always, I hope you enjoyed even if this is a little shorter. Feel free to leave comments/kudos :)


	8. Tonight is the night

The next morning Harry woke up to the sight of Draco with a pillow raised over his head. He quickly dodged Draco’s attempt at hitting him and grudgingly began to get ready, grumbling the entire time.

“Well you do sleep like a log,” Draco pointed out, waiting for Harry to walk out of the door before he followed. Harry glanced back at him and suddenly recalled his vow to tell Draco the truth the previous night.

“Wait before we go, I wanted to tell you the entire truth. But…” Harry trailed off hesitantly. 

“I’ll keep this to myself,” Draco said reassuringly. Harry took a seat next to Draco and quietly began to retell the events from the previous day. Draco would interject occasionally with sounds of disbelief, but after a few quieting looks from Harry, he let Harry conclude his tale. 

“Wow,” Draco breathed out. Harry nodded a little stiffly, waiting for Draco to express his worry for Hermione. “We’re allowed to visit Hermione right?” Draco asked hesitantly. Harry exhaled in relief. 

“Knowing McGonagall, she’ll probably have a ton of strict rules in place. But I’m sure that Snape will allow us to,” Harry said. 

Draco opened his mouth to ask another question. “Do you think you can talk to the basilisk down there? What if it only listens to the first heir?” 

“I was going to ask Salazar about this because I really don’t know,” Harry confessed. Draco laid a comforting hand on Harry’s shoulder and guided him into a standing position. 

“Let’s go to breakfast now and maybe if we’re lucky, we can catch Snape’s attention,” Draco suggested. The boys made their way down to breakfast and decided to take the route that passed by the Hospital Wing. 

“Pomfrey has the curtains around her bed,” Harry whispered, as soon as he saw Draco attempting to peek into the room. “We can come back right before lunch,” he added. They continued towards the Great Hall and Draco struck up a slightly awkward conversation about their Potions assignment before they finally sat down at the table. Luckily for them, Snape happened to sweep through the aisle and pass right by them. 

“Professor!” Harry called out loudly and then switched to a quieter voice as Snape stepped towards them. “Do you think we could visit Hermione at the Hospital Wing?” 

Snape hesitated briefly and turned to nod at McGonagall before replying. “That should be alright, but I have to check with Professor McGonagall. Also, I want to see both of you after breakfast. Just come up to the Head Table.” 

“Sir, I had another question. Do you think I could go see the portrait in your office?” Harry asked innocently. Snape instantly pinned Harry with an intense gaze. 

“See me after breakfast. ” Snape said, pointedly glancing around at the Slytherin table that was beginning to fill up. After ensuring that he received twin nods from both Harry and Draco, Snape returned to the Head Table with a deep sigh. Harry and Draco exchanged looks but began to eat slowly, painstakingly waiting for the Hall to clear once more. They happily welcomed the distraction of Theo and Blaise stumbling into the Great Hall nearly ten minutes later. 

“I thought Harry was bad at waking up, but you two are the absolute worst,” Draco said. Harry watched in amusement as Draco cringed and smoothed out his sweater crease in response to seeing Theo’s crinkled uniform. 

“Blaise and I were theorizing where Dumbledore went late last night and wondering how Granger is doing!” Theo exclaimed, in an attempt to defend himself. Harry grinned happily at that.

“I went to sleep last but I still managed to wake up first,” Draco retorted. The four boys laughed and began to talk about their upcoming day, but Harry noticed the curious eyes of multiple Slytherins flicking up towards the Head Table every few minutes. Draco quickly picked up on Harry’s straying attention and poked his friend.

“Why has no one except for the people from our house notice that Dumbledore’s not here?” Harry asked quietly. 

“That’s just how it is in Slytherin,” Blaise said. Harry tilted his head in confusion.

“He means that people from other houses are either barely awake or are too busy doing last-minute revisions, while we are always aware of our appearances,” Draco supplied helpfully. 

“It is a little surprising that you easily made the switch from an empty brained Gryffindor to fit in so well with us,” Theo added. 

“Please don’t sound too surprised,” Harry replied dryly, before barely choking down his nutrient potions. 

“Are we all ready for Transfiguration?” Theo asked eagerly, excitedly getting to his feet even though Transfiguration wasn’t for nearly another hour.

“Snape wanted to talk to us after breakfast, so we’ll just meet you two there,” Draco said. 

“Yeah, save us a seat!” Harry called, already making his way up towards the Head Table with Draco hot on his heels. 

“Sir, what did you want to say?” Draco asked curiously after Snape had erected a silencing bubble around himself and the two second-years. 

“To preface, you both can not repeat a word of this to any other individual,” Snape said firmly. Both Harry and Draco slowly nodded in confusion. “The previous night, McGonagall and I talked extensively with Salazar’s portrait over this issue and we all agreed that we must take action as soon as possible. Salazar disclosed the location of his chamber and thus — “ 

“Harry can’t go!” Draco bursted out worriedly. Harry glanced over at his blonde friend in alarm. 

“Draco, you knew that I would have had to. I’m the only one they know who can speak to snakes, and both of the professors will be with me the entire time,” Harry reassured. 

“Yes Draco, Harry will be fine,” Snape said, annoyed at having been interrupted by his own godson. 

“I just got worried again because I remembered Hermione was petrified. I’d rather not lose another friend,” Draco admitted nervously. Harry smiled at his friend gratefully and nodded to acknowledge his concerns. 

“As touching as this moment is, that was not the most important detail I had to tell you. This morning, McGonagall and I agreed to make our move into the Chamber tomorrow morning at 5. I will arrive at your dorms before that to retrieve you. And Draco, you’ll be able to come up with a suitable lie for your roommates, correct?” Snape asked. 

Draco nodded and continued to stand there looking worried. “Wait sir, why did McGonagall just accompany the Weasley’s out of the Great Hall?” 

“She just needed to ask them something,” Snape replied before continuing to speak to Harry. “In the case that something were to go wrong between now and tomorrow morning, either McGonagall and I will send you a patronus that will alert you that we are coming to get you.” 

“A patronus is like a shimmery animal,” Draco clarified, seeing Harry’s confused face. 

“That’s not quite right but for these purposes, yes. You will learn more into depth about patronuses at a later time. But that should be just about everything that you need to know,” Snape said, readying himself to vanish the silencing charm. 

“Sir, I have one question,” Harry hesitated but saw Snape nod imperceptibly and continued. “Is the first heir Voldemort?” 

“Yes it is him. His younger self put a piece of his essence into that diary and was using the diary to possess an individual to do his bidding.” 

“Wasn’t it my father who planted this diary into Hogwarts?” Draco’s face paled almost instantly.

“He put the diary with Ginny’s books… It has to be Ginny who’s been possessed,” Harry declared. 

“Don’t theorize. McGonagall is questioning them now and she will get the truth out of them,” Snape said flatly, refusing to give Harry any motivations to go into the chamber by himself. 

“But Professor — “ 

A shimmery cat suddenly bounded into the empty Great Hall and made a beeline towards Snape. ‘Ginny just ran out of my office in terror after a few light questions. Her brother told me that his sister has been acting weird ever since Harry was resorted into Slytherin. We need to watch over her and perhaps move our plan to this night.’ Both Harry and Draco worriedly turn to face their Head of House, who is speaking into his own Patronus to send back to McGonagall.

“You both go off to class. Harry, McGonagall or I will alert you with any updates. And please do not go off anywhere without a professor with you during the day. Unfortunately, this includes going to see Ms. Granger,” Snape warned. 

“I understand sir, thank you,” Harry replied. Snape hurriedly waved them off and the boys walked off in direction of the Transfiguration classroom. 

They were only a corridor down from the Transfiguration classroom, when Draco broke the silence. “I don’t know how to feel right now,” Draco confessed. 

Harry turned to look at his friend with newfound concern. “Draco, it’s not your fault. Whatever your father has done is not a reflection on who you are.”

“I know it’s not, but I used to be just like him,” Draco spat out angrily. “Until a few months ago, I was still that prick who believed he was better than everyone just because of blood.” 

“That’s true, but you have grown a lot since then. Maybe there is hope for your father,” Harry said hopefully. 

“You should have been a Hufflepuff,” Draco replied, laughing at Harry’s stricken face. 

“Don’t be rude! Let’s get into class before McGonagall marks us tardy,” Harry said, rolling his eyes. The class passed without much incident, but Harry felt Ron’s gaze burning uncomfortably on his neck. Theo and Blaise were sitting directly behind him and had prodded Harry’s back with their wands to alert the pair. 

“What’s Weasley’s deal?” Draco asked quietly, noticeably turning around to scowl at Ron. 

“Maybe he’s just jealous you guys are best friends now,” Theo suggested. 

“Hopefully,” Draco snorted and resumed his note taking. Class went slowly and aside from Ron’s weird looks, Harry filled the time with imagining his night trip into the Chamber. Nothing was likely to go too horribly with two of the strongest professors but it will still be dangerous… Harry turned the possible scenarios over in his head but ultimately shook them off. He needed to help so that Hermione could recover peacefully. 

“Dismissed. Gryffindors, I will walk you to your next class. Slytherins straight to your common room for your break period,” McGonagall called out, abruptly disrupting Harry’s thoughts. 

“Think we could sneak in to visit Granger?” Blaise asked, as the group of Slytherins walked back towards the dungeons. Draco grimaced and looked at Harry. 

“Snape told me not to. And there’s no point since she’s petrified, she can’t hear or see us,” Harry said firmly. Blaise and Theo nodded in agreement but Draco seemed almost reluctant to Harry. 

“I feel like her being petrified is my fault,” Draco confided quietly to Harry, as they settled down into the chairs at the common room. 

“It’s really not,” Harry sighed. But Draco looked unconvinced and for the rest of the day, he had cast looks into the Hospital Wing every time they had passed it. With each hour that passed, Harry became all the more cognizant that it was nearly time for him to embark into the Chamber. By the time it was dinner, Harry was almost entirely unaware of everything else and sat down next to Theo to start eating. 

“Where’s Draco?” Theo asked him quietly. 

“He probably snuck off to visit Granger,” Blaise whispered. 

“What are you two talking about?” Harry shook his head and turned to his other side where Draco usually sat, to find the space empty. Harry felt his heart drop and instantly turned to the Head Table to see McGonagall and Snape engaged in a tense conversation, with McGonagall pointing at the Gryffindor table. 

“Professors!” Harry said loudly, making his way straight up to the Head Table. No one had bothered to watch him because, at that exact moment, the doors to the Great Hall banged open. 

“Severus, I trusted you but you were the Heir of Slytherin this entire time!” a voice boomed from the entrance. Each of the tables broke out into chaos almost immediately. The Slytherins gave him disbelieving looks. No one in their right mind would believe that Snape was the Heir of Slytherin but it seemed that over half of the student body did. 

“Professor Dumbledore!”

“Headmaster!” 

Almost all of the Gryffindors and some Hufflepuffs clamored for the attention of the Headmaster, who was standing triumphantly in the middle of the room. Dumbledore stared up at Snape with a ferocious grin and took out his wand. Harry looked down at the room in disbelief and was about to move closer to Snape, but McGonagall quickly grabbed his elbow.

“I am here to take back the school from the evil,” Dumbledore intoned and began to rapidly shoot spells at Snape. For a few moments, Harry and McGonagall watched on as the pair began to trade spells, but McGonagall then turned to face Harry. 

“Severus is a very capable wizard, there is no need to worry. More importantly, Mr. Weasley is missing but his sister is right here. Perhaps I was mistaken to assume that Ms. Weasley was the one who was possessed. We need to go soon,” McGonagall said. 

“I was coming up to the table to tell you and Professor Snape that Draco is missing. We thought he might have gone to see Hermione in the Hospital Wing, but he still isn’t back,” Harry said nervously. 

“Another thing to worry about…” McGonagall sighed. “We can only hope that he is okay.” They watched in anticipation as Severus began to gain an upper hand and at last began to subdue Dumbledore. The students were aghast at the state of the duel and some were shouting furiously at Snape, but most had fled to the very corners of the room, fearful of the advanced magic occurring at the center. At last, Snape had disarmed Dumbledore and bound him to a chair that he had conjured into the dining hall. Harry looked on carefully as McGonagall explained to him that Snape not only chained Dumbledore to the chair, but also silenced him and placed an anti-magic ward around him.

“For all of the students who doubt my character, look through the memories of this Pensieve,” Snape quickly summoned a Pensieve and placed memories into the swirling depths. 

McGonagall stepped forward to stand at the Headmaster’s old podium. “Students, I am confident in Professor Snape's loyalties. He wishes for nothing but to protect the school and all of you, as our students. If you don’t believe in either of us, you are free to see these memories alongside a Professor. Professor Flitwick will keep you all in here, as it is currently not safe around the castle. We will be in close contact with Professor Flitwick to let him know when you are all free to return to your dormitories. And we will be summoning Aurors here to keep you safe and handle Dumbledore,” She exchanged a brief nod with Flitwick who nodded solemnly.

“Students, please return to your tables!” Flitwick called out, as Snape, McGonagall, and Harry made their hasty exit. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted Theo and Blaise giving him concerned looks and he could only smile grimly as he followed the professors out of the hall. 

“Professor Snape, Draco is missing. I think he snuck into the Hospital W — “ Harry nearly stumbled on McGonagall’s robes as she stopped abruptly in front of a wall near the Hospital Wing. Harry heard Snape’s shaky breathing and sees him dash into the Hospital Wing. “Does that mean Draco?” Harry’s voice is choked as he rereads the bloody words written on the wall over and over.

**_‘YOU WILL LOSE EVERYONE POTTER,’_ **

“Draco is in the Chamber? We have to hurry!” Harry shouted worriedly. 

“Harry, you have to calm down. You won’t be able to help us without a level head,” McGonagall said firmly, but even she is clutching at her wand. She quickly summoned three mirrors and handed one to Harry and one to Snape, who had just arrived. 

“Madam Pomfrey is okay. She didn’t see or hear anything, but she said that she never saw Draco come in,” Snape reported, quickly ushering McGonagall and Harry towards the second-year lavatory. The trio arrived at the bathroom and saw Moaning Myrtle floating around. 

“Hello there Professors and Harry Potter!” she squealed, before diving into another toilet. 

“Harry, you need to say ‘open’ to this sink,” McGonagall instructed, placing a calming hand on Harry’s shaking shoulders. 

“Open,” Harry said. 

“In Parseltongue,” Snape added, before conjuring a snake to sit on top of the sink. 

**‘** **_Open’_ **

The sink immediately shifts into a little entrance to a dirty looking pipe. “Before we go in, I need to make this clear Harry. At all times, you will be in between either Professor Snape or me, do you understand?” McGonagall asked. 

“I understand,” Harry replied quietly, gazing nervously into the dark tunnel.

Both McGonagall and Snape nodded in acknowledgement. Snape turned back to face the pipe, cast a quick ‘Lumos’ and with that, he jumped inside. 

“Come down here, I cast a cushioning charm,” Snape called. Harry took a deep breath and jumped down. Just seconds later, he opened his eyes to see McGonagall also standing right beside him. _‘There’s no need to be so nervous, I have two Professors here. I need to get my act together so I can save Draco!’_ Harry berated himself. Snape was leading the way and was navigating through the winding tunnels almost effortlessly, until they arrived at a bend. 

“Which way should we go?” Snape asked, likely directing the question towards McGonagall.

But instead, Harry spoke up. “We should go left. There’s something pulling me in towards that direction,” he voiced hesitantly. 

“Maybe it’s the magic that is guiding his senses,” McGonagall reasoned. Snape reluctantly agreed and after they had walked that path for another few minutes, they encountered a door with two engraved snakes. 

“Seems that you were correct,” Snape breathed out, touching the serpents reverently. Harry’s entire body was shaking as he looked at the eyes of the snake that almost seemed a little too alive. 

“Before we go in, I need to make sure you are absolutely clear on this Harry,” McGonagall said sternly. “You will not get involved or do anything unless Professor Snape or I explicitly ask you to do something.” 

“It is likely that we will encounter a version of Voldemort’s soul inside. We will not allow you to interact with that for the second year in a row,” Snape added. Harry nodded and tensely expressed his assent. McGonagall inclined her head and gestured towards the door. 

**_‘Open up’_ **Harry hissed. Both professors and Harry watched as the walls cracked open… 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone and Happy Valentine's Day!!!!! We are nearing the enddddd! And my sincerest apologies for leaving off at a moment like that but I hope that you will still leave kudos/comments :) 
> 
> As always, thank you for reading!


	9. The Chamber

As they walked into the Chamber, Harry felt warmth envelop his body even though he was essentially walking through a sewer. He decided to not tell either of the professors about that feeling and instead focused on calming his nerves. Harry craned his neck nervously to look for any sign of Draco being harmed but saw no indication of anyone even there. Harry almost felt the time slipping away, and with each second that passed, he began to worry that Draco would not be recovered in time. 

“Look over there,” Snape muttered, at last, pointing off to the side. Harry’s heart dropped as his gaze slowly settled on Draco’s petrified body lying helplessly on the ground. He just barely restrained the urge to run towards his best friend and was in fact only stopped by McGonagall’s gentle tug on his robes. Upon closer inspection, Ron was also curled up five feet away from Draco. Harry choked down his anger and furiously clenched his fists. If Ron had just supported his initial house switch to Slytherin and stayed his friend like Hermione had, none of this would ever have happened. 

“It’s nice to see you again, Minerva,” a silky but youthful voice came from the dimly lit corner and interrupted Harry’s inner monologue. As the figure emerged from the shadows, Harry watched as Professor McGonagall clapped a hand to her mouth in disbelief. She exchanged a quick glance with Snape and seemed to draw strength from Snape’s unchanging expression. 

“I cannot say the same. You have fallen far from grace,” she retorted. Riddle placed his hand on his chest and dramatically sighed, as if he were offended and turned to face Snape next. 

“Severus, are you not my loyal follower?” Riddle questioned. A brief myriad of expressions crossed over the face of the Slytherin Head of House but it settled on reluctant acceptance. “I suppose you aren’t any longer.” 

“And next, we have the Lion who became a Snake,” Riddle said, giving Harry a contemplative lookover. His eyes trail down Harry’s person and stop on the Slytherin emblem on Harry’s robes. Harry stood there hesitant at first, but gradually met Riddle’s eyes with a confident gaze. Riddle only appeared to be around four years older than Harry, and if Harry ignored the fact that this cynical teenager would become the wizard who murdered his parents, he was certain that he would be alright. “What’s wrong? Are you so afraid of my divine power that you had to bring two professors with you? I am the Heir of Slytherin after all, it is rather understandable,” Riddle was clearly goading Harry into talking, smirking all the while. 

Harry took in a sharp breath and saw both McGonagall and Snape’s futile attempts to quiet him. “Salazar Slytherin would despise you for all that you have done to ruin his name,” Harry spit back furiously. 

“You have fire after all! What makes you think that you would have any idea what the great Salazar Slytherin would think of me?” Riddle replied, a smile curling on his lips. Harry bit his tongue angrily, he desperately wanted to say something in response but he could feel McGonagall tapping on his shoulder to calm him down. “Would you three like to hear the tale of how I fooled that idiotic ginger into giving me almost his entire lifeforce?” Riddle asked. He did not wait for a response before plowing forth. 

“That diary,” Riddle paused to throw the diary at Harry, who easily caught it. “Ronald is weak at heart. He found my diary in his younger sister’s belongings and took it to write about how he constantly felt overshadowed by his siblings, and especially his famous best friend — Harry Potter. And when you were resorted into Slytherin, he sensed his relevance slipping away. He would never be friends with a filthy Snake, as he so quaintly put it. Poor Ronald, he was still jealous of the young Malfoy for becoming his replacement and he wrote multiple times about his theory of you being the Slytherin Heir,” Riddle paused in the middle of his monologue to snort derisively at that last sentence. He started up a cruel mockery of Ron’s voice, “‘ _Dear Tom, I can’t remember anything a lot of these days… Imagine if I caught the Heir of Slytherin, I bet everyone would be falling over to become my friend. I bet you it’s Potter!’ …_ That boy was a pathetic weakling. I told him that if he listened to me, I’d help him expose you and he was the easiest soul I have ever broken,” Riddle said thoughtlessly. He looked out at the silent trio in front of him and grinned ruthlessly.

“Anyways, Ronald genuinely believed you were the Heir of Slytherin, just because you can also speak to snakes. How could you possibly represent Slytherin, when you’re off gallivanting with a mudblood,” Riddle added in amusement. 

“You speak big for someone whose last name is Riddle,” Harry replied defiantly. Riddle was not a pureblood name, he knew this from the time that Draco had droned on about the main pureblood families and the “Sacred Twenty-Eight” or something along those lines. He heard Snape audibly sigh, but Harry stood there furiously. He would not tolerate anyone badmouthing Hermione. Riddle’s face contorted angrily for a moment, but smoothed over within seconds. 

“And of all people… Imagine my surprise when it was no other than Albus Dumbledore that returned the diary to my host. There was no way that he did not recognize my initials on that cover! I am sure you remember Minerva, how Dumbledore despised me and harbored suspicions of me for my entire schooling!” Riddle said with feigned surprise coloring his voice. “Undoubtedly, Dumbledore feels he lost control of his little savior, the Boy Who Lived… Harry Potter being in Slytherin is quite the anomaly. Perhaps being put into Slytherin was a sign for you to join my side, Potter… I will manipulate you but unlike Dumbledore, it will be abundantly clear that I am manipulating you,” Riddle offered silkily. 

“I would not join a bunch of blood supremacists that blindly follow a half-blood,” Harry said, his voice shaking with hatred. Harry knew that change in the magical society was occurring and at some point, even the most radical blood purists would be able to accept everyone with magical blood. No one in their right mind would follow this bloody scam, if only they knew he was a half-blood wizard. 

Riddle’s smile vanished from his face and a grotesque scowl emerged. “Very well. Tell me one last thing, Harry Potter, before I teach you the final lesson of your life.”

Harry continued to stand there, firmly gripping the diary that lay inside of his pockets. 

“How did a little baby strip me of all my powers? Of course, you will die here today, but I would like to know this before I wipe out your entire family line.” 

“Lily Evans was a powerful witch, who knew of magic far beyond what you will ever be capable of,” McGonagall had summoned the courage to speak, despite her earlier shock of seeing a version of her younger schoolmate who had turned into a Dark Lord. Harry turned away briefly at the mention of his mother, who had died for him without an ounce of hesitation. If he ever got out of here, he would ask Snape to see memories of his mother. 

“Don’t be ridiculous, Minerva. So it appears that it was just pure luck,” Riddle mused before turning his attention back to Harry. “Let’s see what you can do against the powers of the true Heir of Slytherin!” He turned to the wall and began to hiss. **_“Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four, speak to me!”_ ** Harry watched in horror as the statue of Salazar began to part, and out crawled the basilisk. **_“Kill the boy, I will handle the two adults,”_ **Riddle demanded of the basilisk, before taking out Ron’s wand from his pocket. 

“Harry, don’t do anything brash,” Snape said quickly, before he was forced to engage in a duel with Riddle. 

“Shield your eyes,” McGonagall warned him, before standing side by side with Snape. Harry could only watch on helplessly, as Riddle shot spell after spell at his two professors. They were holding up well against him, but Snape was clearly tired after already having duelled Dumbledore earlier that evening. After catching a glimpse of a spell hitting McGonagall’s shoulder and hearing her scream, he turned away and ran behind one of the stone pillars. As Harry caught his breathing, he quickly racked his brain for possible options, but came up empty. There was only one option, which just so happened to be the incredibly brash type of thing that Snape had just warned him against doing.

**_“Hello? Can you shield your eyes so we can talk?”_ **he hissed hesitantly. The rustling of the basilisk suddenly halted. 

**_“You’re a speaker too? I can feel Salazar’s magic around you, are you another Heir? ”_ **the basilisk asked curiously. Harry jumped on the opening immediately.

 **_“I talked to Salazar’s portraits a few times, he might have placed his magic around me because I felt warmth when I entered the Chamber. And yes, I am the second in line heir,”_ **Harry replied. 

**_“I only listened to that one over there because I wanted to go outside and see if I could catch a glimpse of any of Salazar’s portraits. I have missed him and I need to tell him about his misguided first heir,”_ **the basilisk hissed sadly.

 **_“He knows about Riddle, but I think he can’t do anything because Riddle is still his first heir,”_ **Harry said. 

**_“Salazar never meant for the eradication of all muggleborns or half-bloods. He values any being with magical blood in it,”_ ** the basilisk seemingly anticipated Harry’s questions because he continued speaking. **_“I have no choice but to obey Salazar’s heirs. I could not disobey him directly.”_ ** They pause for a few seconds and Harry gives the basilisk a sorrowful look. **_“But… you are also considered an heir. And you seem to be an upstanding young man who has his heart in place. I can advise you on how to get out of this situation.”_ **Harry looked away from the duel that was still actively raging in the center of the Chamber and looked up at the basilisk with trepidation. 

**_“I can give you one of my fangs. You need to stab that diary with my fangs because it will immediately drain and vanquish this part of his soul.”_ **

**_“When should I do that? Shouldn’t we put on a show to make it seem like you are listening to him?”_ **Harry hissed back nervously, catching Riddle’s eyes trained on the basilisk, who had clearly not yet returned with Harry’s carcass. 

**_“No need. He should know that he is not favored by Salazar. But, can I ask a favor from you?”_ **the basilisk quietly asked. Harry nodded in acquiescement. 

**_“I know that Salazar’s portraits are bound to the walls here, but could you at least promise to come back and visit to tell me how he is? I have not seen him in a very long time,”_ **the basilisk admitted. 

**_“Of course. I will do everything in my power to see if I can bring one of his other portraits here for you,”_ **Harry vowed. Harry stood there, holding his breath as the basilisk dropped a fang onto the ground and quietly slithered away. Harry quietly fished the diary out from his pocket, and turned briefly to check on Snape and McGonagall. He took in the scene and saw McGonagall bleeding heavily, but still valiantly making an effort to defend herself. Harry accidentally looked into the furious eyes of Riddle, who quickly pieced together that Harry was holding both his diary and a basilisk fang. Both Snape and McGonagall realized that Riddle’s attention was no longer on them and they both readied to defend the second-year Slytherin from afar. In a split second, Riddle began shooting spells at Harry. Harry kicked into action and began to run further down the side walls, dodging the array of deadly spells that Riddle sent his way. 

“Harry!” McGonagall urged, flinging a vicious-looking red spell at Riddle’s turned back. Riddle had to take the time to deflect the curse, and Harry took those extra seconds to summon all of his courage. He gripped the fang and buried it straight into the front of the diary cover. The effect was instantaneous. Riddle collapsed to his knees and began to scream and moan gruesomely, as if he were struck by a thousand Bludgers at once. Harry watched for a few more seconds and then — Riddle vanished, leaving nothing behind but Ron’s wand that had just been in his fingers. Just seconds later, Ron began to stir and McGonagall limped over to his side to check on him. Harry turned away with an unbothered expression and instead paced over to Draco’s petrified figure. Snape joined him shortly after and placed a hand on Harry’s shoulders soothingly. 

“You did well,” Snape said softly. 

“Thanks Professor,” Harry replied, sadly looking on as Draco continued to lie there unmoving.

“Harry, Madam Pomfrey alerted us that the Mandrakes are almost ready. Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Granger should be okay within this week. You did very well for them,” McGonagall said, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. 

“Professors, the basilisk is still here… I promised him that I’d come back and try to bring Salazar’s portrait,” Harry said tiredly. Thank Merlin he had remembered to say something, it would not have boded well if the basilisk had just come up to them without warning. 

“That’s fine,” McGonagall nodded in agreement. As Harry took time to tell McGonagall what he and the basilisk had done, Snape spotted Ron jealously watching Harry, with tears pouring down his face. The fact that Ron was not currently on his hands and knees begging Harry for forgiveness was absolutely disgraceful. From the looks of him, it looked like practically nothing had changed. Snape walked over briskly and pulled the Gryffindor to his feet. 

“Stop moping you imbecile. This is all of your fault,” Snape remarked snidely. Ron looked up at him in disbelief and hiccupped.

“Am I going to be expelled?” he asked hesitantly, in between several sniffles.

“That’s the first thing you are worried about? You should be embarrassed that you abandoned your first friend and even now, you don’t even care that your actions caused his two best friends to be petrified. You created all of this pain because of your hatred towards Slytherin and your childish insecurities,” Snape said sharply. As usual, he did not care that his tone was cruel, this dunderhead needed a wake up call. Snape distantly saw McGonagall send off her patronus, likely to tell Flitwick what had just transpired. 

“I hope you told Flitwick to bring his parents,” Snape called out to McGonagall, watching in satisfaction as Ron’s face began to fall even further. 

“I did,” McGonagall reported back, walking over to Snape with a few brooms in hand. She turned to face Ron, who cowered at McGonagall’s rare harsh look. “Mr. Weasley, make no mistake about this... I am extremely disappointed and you will be in detention with me until next year. Gryffindors pride ourselves on being loyal and brave, and yet you disgraced our house all year with your behavior,” the Transfiguration professor said sternly. She gave him one final look, before she turned back to address Snape. “We will get back up by flying. You take Weasley, I’ll secure Mr. Malfoy along with me, and Harry can go by himself,” McGonagall said. 

“Are you positive that he can fly himself?” Snape asked, checking on Harry, who had lingered to bid the basilisk a farewell. 

“Yes, he plays for Gryf — “ the Gryffindor Head of House stopped mid-sentence and visibly deflated. 

“Ah that’s right, he’ll play for me now,” Snape said, as he joyfully straddled the broom and gestured at the brooding Ron to sit behind him. McGonagall scowled at Snape’s jubilation and turned to face her own broom.

“Harry, it’s time to go!” McGonagall called out, after ensuring that Draco was securely attached to the broom with a sticking charm. Harry joined McGonagall’s side and quickly mounted the broom that McGonagall held out for him. 

Snape led the way, with Harry in the middle, and McGonagall rounding out the back. Just as they entered the Chamber, they had emerged back out into the entrance of the second-year girls lavatory. As they stepped off the brooms, Harry struggled to ignore Moaning Myrtle openly gawking at them and instead turned to ask McGonagall where to go next. 

“We’ll head straight to my office. Your parents have been notified and are already there,” McGonagall directed the final sentence to Ron, who was still wiping furiously at the remnant of his tears. 

“Minerva, I could take him up to your office and entertain his parents. I will drop Draco off at the Hospital Wing, and inform his parents. As acting Headmistress, you should go back to the Great Hall with Harry. We can wait for both of you to return,” Snape offered. 

“That is agreeable,” McGonagall said and beckoned Harry to follow her. Ron quietly stepped forward and looked at Harry hesitantly. 

“I’m sorry mate,” he whispered, looking down at the floor. Harry’s jaw tightened minutely. Snape watched on in thinly veiled interest as Harry easily forced Ron to raise his eyes from the ground. 

“Don’t call me that,” Harry said quietly, and turned his back on his first friend. As he walked away with McGonagall, Ron sent them a final despondent look before facing Snape. 

“Help me to carry Mr. Malfoy,” Snape barked out at last, and Ron hurried to take Draco’s feet off the ground. For several minutes, the air was filled with Ron grunting from the effort of carrying Draco and Snape clicking his tongue in disgust. By the time they had made it to the Hospital Wing, Ron nearly collapsed onto the closest chair, while Snape had gracefully taken the seat that Madam Pomfrey offered him. 

“Are you all alright?” Pomfrey asked them quietly, as she chanced a look at Snape’s grim expression. She had only gotten a Patronus from Flitwick, who had informed her about what happened in the last few hours. _‘Not only had Dumbledore reappeared, but both Severus and Minerva allowed Harry Potter to go into the Chamber of Secrets! What happened to Hogwarts' two most level-headed professors?’_ Pomfrey had thought to herself. 

“All is well now. The Mandrakes should be ready soon, correct?” he asked. Snape and Pomfrey looked back at the row of beds that held the petrified students. 

“Yes, within this week,” Pomfrey reported gratefully. “Please have Harry stop by again later so I can check on his vitals,” she added, as the Potions professor got to his feet with Ron hastily stumbling to follow. Snape gave one brief nod to show that he had heard her, before he swept out of the Hospital Wing. 

Meanwhile, McGonagall and Harry made their way into the Great Hall again. The students immediately roared, many of them clamoring for the Transfiguration professor's attention. 

“Silence!” Flitwick shouted, amplifying his voice with a spell that Harry did not recognize. 

“Harry, you can go sit with your friends in Slytherin. I’ll get you again once I am done addressing the school,” McGonagall said quietly. Harry nodded and slipped off to sit back with Blaise and Theo. The Slytherins were a much more discreet group of people, and most of his housemates quietly looked at him.

“What the hell happened? Is Draco okay?” Theo whispered, as soon as Harry had sat back down. McGonagall started up a long speech, but Harry intended to block out most of it. 

“I am bloody exhausted and it’s such a long story,” Harry replied, holding back his yawn. Both of his friends sent him a look, and Harry sighed. As he weighed his options, he realized that he would not be able to get out of this. Even the other girls in their year were sending him curious looks. He had been in their house for several months, but none of them had made any effort to speak to him, aside from Daphne Greengrass. It would be better for him to just tell Theo and Blaise now, so that Blaise could spread the news around the entire house. 

“Weasley got possessed and he set a basilisk on all the petrified people. Draco got attacked because he tried to sneak into the Hospital Wing, and he was in the Chamber when we got there. Everything is fine now,” Harry admitted slowly. 

“There is definitely much more to that story… But, I think that is enough for our lovely housemates for now,” Blaise said, who briefly eyed Harry but gave him a gesture of silent agreement. Blaise gestured to Pansy Parkinson to come to where the boys were seated, and he whispered a shortened version of the story. She practically danced away with excitement at being the first person to hear the gossip. 

“She is so clueless,” Theo snorted. “Right, we almost forgot to tell you, Harry! While you were gone, Lockhart tried to free Dumbledore from that chair but his magic was totally busted. Flitwick and the Aurors tried to get him to sit down, but Lockhart was so embarrassed that he attempted to put a memory charm on Flitwick! Sprout had to take him to the Hospital Wing, but he’s definitely not teaching here ever again!” 

“What?” Harry sat there with his mouth open in disbelief for several moments. “Once Granger’s out of the Hospital Wing, she’ll be so upset to hear that her favorite Professor is a total fraud,” Blaise crowed. Harry grinned at that. Hermione had slowly made her way into his new group in Slytherin after all.

“Also, the Head of Aurors is supposed to be coming soon to arrest Dumbledore and likely, Lockhart. I hope we get to stay for the entire time,” Theo added. 

“McGonagall is walking over here again,” Blaise commented, poking at Harry’s shoulder to get his attention.

“Come with me, Mr. Potter. I have determined that Flitwick will release each House with their Head of House at different intervals. We need to move quickly so that the Gryffindors and Slytherins aren’t waiting in here forever,” McGonagall said, beckoning Harry to follow her. Blaise and Theo waved farewell at him as he clambered to his feet and hurried after the Head of Gryffindor. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, this week was a pretty quick update. I took one exam on Wednesday and really haven't done anything except edit since then haha. I also changed my spacing style... does anyone have a preference for spacing? 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and please leave kudos/comment if you're excited for the next chapter!! 
> 
> We're almost at the end :)))


	10. Taking a stand

McGonagall had asked Harry if he was too tired for confronting the Weasleys after all he had gone through, but he shook his head to dismiss her worries. 

“I don’t mind,” Harry said, even though his feet were dragging significantly behind hers. McGonagall nodded but noticeably slowed her pace so that Harry could catch up to her. She was eager to return to her office, after all, justice needed to be served. Hopefully, Snape had alerted Malfoy’s parents… she wanted to see Lucius Malfoy curl up in disbelief that his pureblooded son had been attacked by Voldemort, the half-blooded wizard. That might not be enough for Lucius, but McGonagall knew that Narcissa’s reaction would likely propel the two parents to renounce their past. 

She turned to look at Harry and was briefly taken aback. Her ex-Lion looked genuinely exhausted and had slime from the Chamber staining his robes, but he held himself as if he had not just barely escaped Voldemort for the second year. In just a few months, Harry had changed. McGonagall was loath to admit this, but Harry being resorted to Slytherin was for the best. She had seen with her own eyes how he never stood for any Muggleborn discrimination in his new house, and how easily he had brought Hermione Granger into his new group of friends. She would have to find a new Seeker fast… Severus’ bragging would become impossible to bear when Harry would officially start for Slytherin the next year. At last, they had reached the door to McGonagall’s office and she quietly gave Harry time to compose himself before she opened the door. 

“HARRY!” Mrs. Weasley shouted immediately, wrapping Harry into an embrace as soon as she saw him. Harry looked taken aback but leaned awkwardly into the hug. He lowered his eyes to the ground, not wanting to look anywhere near Ron who was desperately trying to capture Harry’s attention. She began to thank him profusely and Harry nodded awkwardly in response but graciously acknowledged her

“Thank you for everything… even with all the trouble that my son has caused you,” Mr. Weasley said solemnly, reaching over to shake Harry’s hand once Mrs. Weasley released him from her firm grip. The occupants of the room lapsed into an awkward silence, with Snape standing near the back and noticeably staring holes into Ron’s neck. Harry took a quick look around the room, noticing that the Weasley twins and Ginny were all sitting by Snape, except for Ron, who was seated in the chairs next to his parents. 

“Harry! You did it again, you brave soul,” George called out. Fred got up to clap Harry’s back and the three of them started up an attempt at a hushed conversation. 

“So you’re abandoning our team next season huh?” Fred asked jokingly. Harry began to laugh, but he caught Snape’s furious glare at Ron, who was squirming uncomfortably in his chair.

“After all that boy did for you, you still have something to say, Weasley?” Snape spat out venomously. Both of the Weasley parents immediately looked towards their youngest son, Mrs. Weasley seemed the most upset. 

“I feel bad for still thinking this but I know that all Slytherins are evil, look at what Tom Riddle made me do,” Ron nearly whined. Harry felt his blood boil and he opened his mouth, but Mrs. Weasley had beaten him to it. 

“Oh wait, Harry dear, you can go on,” Mrs. Weasley said kindly. Harry nodded gratefully and turned back towards Ron. 

“Right well. You of all people should know that no one is defined by their House. Are you not supposed to be a Gryffindor? What happened to being brave and loyal? Because all you were is a spineless coward this entire year,” Harry said firmly, scowling at his ex-best mate. Ron flinched as if Harry had just slapped him. 

“Both me and your father are incredibly disappointed in you. Do you know much it hurts us to see that we have raised someone like you? We never taught you to behave or think like this. Your thoughtless actions put Hogwarts into lockdown. And just imagine how much you have hurt Harry and Hermione! You put someone who used to be your closest friend into the Hospital Wing!” Mrs. Weasley said loudly, wildly swinging her arms around.

“I am sorry for all the pain I caused everyone,” Ron admitted quietly and put his hands in his lap meekly. 

“You should be. You will make amends by having detentions with me or Professor Snape for as long as we see fit. Such disgusting biases do not belong at Hogwarts,” McGonagall declared. Snape nodded from where he was seated to show his agreement.

“I hope that’s alright with you,” Snape said, directing his statement to the Weasley parents. 

“Of course. Don’t worry, over the summer we will be grounding him as well,” Mrs. Weasley replied. Ron visibly deflated but sat up straight again after seeing Snape glower at him.

“Could we hear what happened?” George asked, excitedly poking at Harry’s knee. Harry briefly looked at McGonagall for approval and she nodded. 

“I will be right back. There are two visitors at the gate who are requesting entrance,” McGonagall said, directing a pointed glance at Snape. Harry began the story, pausing every now and then as he remembered to highlight Hermione’s vital role throughout. 

“So it was Hermione actually who figured out that it was a basilisk,” Harry had said before Fred and George interrupted him with a barrage of questions. 

“20 points to Gryffindor,” Snape said, nodding as he recalled Hermione’s wit and intelligence throughout the year. Harry smiled and continued with the story for nearly another half-hour before McGonagall re-entered the room with a pale-looking Lucius Malfoy and frantic Narcissa Malfoy in tow. 

“Severus!” Narcissa exclaimed, walking quickly to Snape’s side and Lucius followed suit, his face ashen. Narcissa hugged Snape and to everyone’s surprise, she began to quietly cry into Snape’s shoulder. 

“I apologize for my tardiness. I took them to see their son in the Hospital Wing,” McGonagall announced. 

“What?” Mrs. Weasley asked, her expression beginning to drop. “Oh Harry, you didn’t tell us that — ” 

“I wasn’t at that part in the story,” Harry protested quietly, sitting up as Lucius zeroed in on him. 

“Why was he attacked? ” Lucius said sharply. Harry was distantly aware of Narcissa turning her teary face to slap Lucius’ arm lightly, but all he could feel was the tightening of his muscles under his skin.

“You’re asking me that?” Harry said, his anger barely restrained. “I mean no disrespect Mr. Malfoy, but was that not one of your belongings?” 

Snape watched in fascination as he saw Lucius’s jaw spasmed involuntarily. “If he was attacked because he was friends with you…” Lucius trailed off. 

“You want to know the truth? Tom Riddle’s soul was in that diary and he knowingly ordered that basilisk to attack Draco. It turns out that blood purity means absolutely nothing to a hypocritical half-blood maniac,” Harry spat. 

“What are you talking about?” Lucius asked angrily but discreetly turned to look at Snape apprehensively. 

“Voldemort is a half-blood,” Snape affirmed. He could barely hold back his laughter at Lucius’ look of absolute shock and denial.

“I know that blood purity is a load of nonsense because the two living heirs of Slytherin are half-bloods! Isn’t that beautiful irony that he’s just another half-blood, who happened to murder my parents, while continuously lying to his group of blind pureblood fanatics,” Harry said bitterly. Lucius stared at him in disbelief, but he had quieted at last. 

“Disgusting,” Harry hissed, giving him one final look. Again, the room fell into a stifling stillness but this time, Harry was hyper-aware of each gaze on him. Both of the professors were looking at him with mostly pride, while the entire Weasley clan was absolutely gobsmacked. Only Narcissa Malfoy gave him a proper response.

“I apologize for my husband’s outburst. We are just concerned for our only son, just as I know you are concerned for him, being one of his closest friends,” Narcissa said to Harry, her face magically devoid of any indication she had been crying minutes prior. 

“Of course, I accept your apology,” Harry said stiffly, inclining his head. 

Thankfully this time McGonagall did not let the room fall into an awkward silence. “It is now past midnight. I trust that information has been properly shared so that we can get the students off to bed.” 

“The Gryffindor and Slytherin students are still waiting in the Great Hall for us to lead them back to their dormitories,” Snape reminded McGonagall. 

“Thank you again for everything, Minerva and Severus,” Mrs. Weasley said, standing up and making her way to McGonagall’s Floo. Within seconds, both Molly and Arthur had vanished into the fireplace, leaving Lucius and Narcissa to follow suit. 

“Please owl us when the Mandrakes are all ready,” Narcissa requested, looking up at both Snape and McGonagall with a surprisingly humble expression.

“Of course, Mrs. Malfoy,” McGonagall said with a small smile. And with that, Draco’s parents stepped into the fireplace. 

“Let’s return to the Great Hall,” Snape announced, casting a suspicious look at the Weasley twins who had begun to walk around McGonagall’s room. 

“If my office is subject to a prank test, I will have you both in detention for the rest of the year,” McGonagall added, as she easily rounded up the Weasley siblings and headed out of the door. Harry walked in stride with Professor Snape, behind the rambunctious twins and the two youngest Weasley siblings who were quietly looking down at the ground. 

“I can drop you off at the Common Room first. You wouldn’t have to deal with any questions for today,” Snape quietly offered. Harry looked up at him gratefully and nodded. 

“That’d be good, thanks Professor,” Harry said. They walked down a different hallway and into the Slytherin Common Room and at that point, Harry was practically swaying on his feet in exhaustion.

“Get some rest Harry, you did well,” Snape called out. Harry smiled tiredly but nodded back, and began to make his way up to the showers. Even though he was burnt out, he did have slime and grime all over his body. Harry took a quick shower and within minutes, he swaddled himself in the warmth of his bed. Right before his eyes shut, he looked at Draco’s empty bed and promised himself that he would go and visit Draco and Hermione early the next day.

* * *

The next morning Harry woke up early. Earlier than he had ever woken up in his entire time at Hogwarts. He surveyed the dorm room and after ensuring that everyone was still sound asleep, he made his way out towards the Hospital Wing. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Blaise or Theo, it was just that he had forged a closer bond with Draco. And he was assuredly not up for answering questions from the Hogwarts gossip king that was Blaise Zabini. 

Harry walked into the Hospital Wing and quietly greeted Madam Pomfrey, who was bustling around and checking on each bed. 

“Mr. Potter, I will be administering the Mandrakes momentarily. You can stick around until then,” Pomfrey offered. Harry nodded gratefully and took a seat at the chair that was left in between both Hermione and Draco. He sat there as Pomfrey tipped each potion down the throats of his petrified schoolmates. Colin Creevey was the first to reawaken and stared at Harry with his typical gobsmacked expression.

Harry rolled his eyes internally but quickly sobered. With bated breath, he watched as Pomfrey approached Hermione first. Almost instantaneously, Hermione opened her eyes and looked around groggily. 

“Harry?!” Hermione’s voice was strained due to disuse, and Harry instantly got up to fetch her some water. 

“Good instincts Potter. Have you thought of becoming a Healer?” Pomfrey suggested, who was now standing by Draco’s bedside. Hermione nodded eagerly, having gulped down the entire glass offered to her. 

“Uh, not really but that sounds interesting,” Harry mumbled shyly. Even with his recent academic transformation, he was still not used to being praised for his intellect. 

“Harry!” Draco exclaimed. His voice was not nearly as scratchy as Hermione’s had been, but he accepted the glass of water that Harry had hurried over to him. Harry looked around furtively, but Pomfrey had walked back into her office to give him privacy. 

“Draco, I am so glad to see you’re better now… but why did you have to sneak into here? Do you have any idea how much it hurt to see your petrified body in the Chamber?” Harry’s voice sounded painfully defeated. 

Draco looked over at him apologetically, but there was a sureness in his expression. “I am sorry that I caused you all of this worry, but I won’t apologize for having come here. I felt a lot of guilt for everything that my father has done, and especially for the mindset that I used to have too.” 

“Alright, I do understand. I have so much to tell the two of you though,” Harry sat up in his chair and began to repeat the same story that he had told last night. 

“Professor Snape gave me points?” Hermione squealed excitedly. Draco and Harry exchanged amused looks. 

“Of course that’s what you're caught up on. Hermione, did you miss the part about Dumbledore being locked up by Aurors? Or the part about Voldemort being a half-blood, and being the one who possessed Weasley?” Draco asked, throwing his head back in raucous laughter. 

“No, of course, I heard that part! But, Professor Snape giving me points is the most surprising thing,” Hermione retorted. They all laugh and Harry refills their water glasses at their request. 

“Harry, you mentioned my parents at the end,” Draco said quietly after he had ceased his laughter. “I hope my father didn’t offend you too much and that you can still come over this summer.” 

“Regardless, Harry stood up for himself very well,“ Hermione sniffed, proudly knocking at Harry’s arm. 

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” a new voice entered the room, to the trio’s surprise. “Of course, you can also come over to my home, Mr. Malfoy,” McGonagall said graciously. Draco nodded shyly and thanked the Head of Transfiguration, with a smile that could not be hidden. 

“Ms. Granger, I am glad to see you recovered,” McGonagall said to Hermione, who blushed furiously. “My classes have missed your presence greatly.” 

“Thank you, Professor, I hope I can still do well on the final exams,” Hermione said eagerly. 

“Final exams were canceled,” yet another voice announced. Professor Snape had entered the room, looking around at the room of students that had at last been roused. 

“Oh no…” Hermione said quietly, dropping her head down in sadness. 

“An absolute case that one is,” Draco said to Harry in a mock whisper. From Hermione’s eye roll, Harry could guess that Hermione heard Draco’s comment.

Madam Pomfrey swept out of her office and looked down at the floor of the Hospital Wing in disbelief. “Why is my Hospital Wing filled with every possible person in this school!” she sighed. 

“Since everyone is now recovered, I will just look over each of you one more time and then you can all go to breakfast,” Pomfrey announced, promptly bustling over to Colin. The room steadily began to empty, and by the time Pomfrey had reached Hermione and Draco, she merely scanned her wand down their bodies and waved them off with a grimace.

“Mr. Potter, if you have any interest in Healing, you should stop by next year,” she offered, before disappearing back into her office.

“That is a very good idea. I would highly recommend you do so, Madam Pomfrey rarely ever takes on pupils,” McGonagall noted. 

“She likely just wants you to be able to heal yourself when you run into inevitable disasters, but I also agree,” Snape added. 

“I think I will,” Harry said, slowly nodding.

“Are we going to the Great Hall first? I want to take a shower and change,” Draco said, likely looking over the state of his hair. Hermione nodded in agreement. 

“Yes, that’s fine. It’s probably better for the two of you to not be there before breakfast even starts. I imagine that would shock many people,” McGonagall said. The professors bid the students farewell, and Harry waved to Hermione as she sped off to the Gryffindor common room.

Harry sighed in resignation as Draco dragged him along. 

“Have you told anyone what happened?” Draco asked as Harry quickly recited the password. 

“No, I haven’t seen anyone. But they probably saw me sleeping when I came back first last night,” Harry said.

“Oh, that’s perfect! You can tell them as I get ready!” Draco patted him on the shoulders, and walked straight towards their dormitory, and headed for the bathroom. 

“No…” Harry groaned, already seeing Blaise pop up from where he was lying down. 

“Harry!!! I know you have a juicy story for us!” Blaise shouted, tackling Harry immediately. 

“You are so dramatic,” Harry said, pushing Blaise off and internally resigning that the next thirty minutes would be the longest of his life. 

“Okay and?” Blaise asked, walking over to wake Theo up. As soon as the two Slytherins had gathered in front of him, Harry repeated the story. 

“Wow, I’m glad everyone’s okay,” Blaise said. 

“Yeah me too,” Harry sighed. Hopefully, he would not have to repeat that story to anyone else. 

“I can’t believe Voldemort is a half-blood too. I can’t even imagine how my father will react to that,” Theo mused.

“I’m sure that my father will have told him by now,” Draco said, who had emerged from the showers at last. 

“You take such long showers,” Harry whined, annoyedly flinging a sock at Draco’s already fixed hair. 

“It takes time to look good! Your five-minute showers don’t help you at all,” Draco coughed, eyeing Harry’s mussed hair. 

“Anyways, I was also thinking the same. All these blood purists following a literal half-blood must feel stupid now,” Blaise drawled. 

“That mindset should have never existed in the first place,” Harry said, rolling his eyes. The three other boys nodded in agreement. 

“Let’s go down to breakfast!” Theo said, excitedly jumping off Harry’s bed and making his way to the door. 

“Dumbledore will be on trial tomorrow,” Blaise said, right as they exited their dormitory room. Both Harry and Draco whip their heads around at nearly the exact time and stop in their tracks. 

“No way,” Draco breathed out. 

“I can’t believe it until I see it… That man has gotten away with so much,” Harry added critically. Theo nodded in agreement, but his head popped up in realization. 

“Wait, also Harry, the Aurors announced that you were to attend,” Theo added. 

“When was anyone going to tell me that?” Harry sighed again and pushed open the door to the Common Room in exasperation. Theo grimaced and shuffled back behind Draco. The boys made their way to the Great Hall, with the few eyes in the room seeming to follow Harry and Draco’s every move as they eventually sat down at the Slytherin table.

“What’s their deal… Bet you no one would gawk at that little first-year Gryffindor who also got petrified,” Draco said. Regardless of those words, Harry knew that Draco secretly loved all of this attention. 

“They’re only looking at you because no one thought that the Monster of Slytherin would attack a pureblood,” Theo said, handily scarfing down pancakes. 

“What a ridiculous assumption... The first in line Slytherin heir is a half-blood and so is the second in line,” Draco scoffed. 

“Right anyways... Dumbledore’s trial is tomorrow. Reckon we can come along with you?” Blaise said to Harry excitedly. 

“Absolutely not,” Snape’s voice cut in quickly as he paced up to the four Slytherins. “Mr. Potter, I was just about to inform you that your presence is no longer required at Dumbledore’s trial. You can spend the next two days with your friends at your leisure. Classes are canceled.”

“We can play Quidditch outside!” Draco enthused, immediately pulling Harry to his feet. 

“Malfoy! Potter is coming with the team for some conditioning. You are welcome to come along," Marcus Flint grunted out from a few seats down. Harry and Draco exchanged gleeful looks and made their way back to their room to change.

From the staff table, the Potions professor and Transfiguration professor surveyed the lazy but peaceful atmosphere. Harry had truly made it in his new house. With any luck, he would become the new standard that the house of Slytherin would strive for… 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Sorry for the delayed update, but we're almost there... Just one more chapter left!!!!! As always, thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, feel free to leave kudos/comments :)


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